


A Summer Camp for Psychics

by hedgehogkween



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: 1970's/80's Setting, Alternate Universe - Children, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Psychics/Psionics, Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Psychonauts AU, Summer Camp, TW's tagged by chapter, will add more tags as they become relevant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-15 21:54:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28820295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hedgehogkween/pseuds/hedgehogkween
Summary: Ten-year-old Thomas runs away from home and sneaks into Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp, a secret government facility that trains young psychics to become elite secret agents. Along the way he makes new friends, including the camp's three eccentric counselors and the friendly young man in the bunk above his. However, the camp and the valley it sits in hold many secrets, including the (supposedly) abandoned sanitarium on the other side of the lake.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Creativity | Roman Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus Sanders, Deceit | Janus Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders, Deceit | Janus Sanders & Thomas Sanders, Nico Flores/Thomas Sanders
Comments: 21
Kudos: 23





	1. The Human Mind

“The Human Mind. 

600 miles of synaptic fiber, five and a half ounces of cranial fluid, 1500 grams of complex neural matter. The most powerful supercomputer known to man… and, as a psychic, your greatest asset. 

Each of you were born with incredible psychic gifts. Perhaps some of you already know how to see things or burn things or make things float. But without proper training, those gifts are little more than common parlor tricks. 

That is why you’ve been enlisted for training at Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp; to undertake the training of an elite psychic warrior. You shall engage the enemy in their own mentality-- You shall chase their dreams, you shall fight their demons, you shall live their nightmares! Those of you who rise to the top will find yourselves on the path to becoming defenders of the mental world… Psychonauts!” 

Janus looked out to his audience. The dozen or so children gathered on log benches around the tiny platform stage stared back at him with sleepy, glazed eyes- those who were looking at all, that is. He frowned. “And those of you that perform _poorly…_ will die trying.” 

“No!” Heavy hands bumped Janus aside. Through a forced smile, his fellow agent screamed at him with his eyes. “No, Janus, no one’s going to _die_ here.” he laughed. Janus rolled his eyes. 

“Well, if you’re not going to bother doing anything with your powers, you might as well be dead…” 

“ _You stop that_!” he hissed. The other agent adjusted his glasses and turned to the crowd of children. “Heh, uh, don’t worry everyone, you’ll all be perfectly safe here. This is going to be fun!” He had managed to muster up a sunshiney grin, which seemed to comfort at least a few of them. “I’m sure you all remember me from your acceptance letters. I am Agent Patton Anourez, but you kids can just call me Pat! And this… ball of sunshine,” Patton threw his arm around the man standing next to him, “is Janus!” Janus scowled at him. 

“That will be Agent Oboros to all of you.” he muttered, stepping out of Patton’s half-grip. A third agent who, up to that point, had been politely standing to the side, cleared his throat and stepped forward. 

“My name is Agent Logan Klein, and you will address me as such.” he said, giving their audience a curt nod of acknowledgement. Patton grinned and patted him on the shoulder.

“Well,” he started, “I won’t waste time repeating anything from Agent Oboros’s little speech. You guys all know why you’re here! You wanna be Psychonauts like us, so we’re gonna train you!” 

“We’re very pleased to see those of you who chose to return this summer.” Logan added. “This training will help you overcome your mental blocks and develop your most essential psychic tools.” 

“Yes! And if any of you newbies have questions about the camp, you can ask one of us.” One hand shot up in the front row, but its owner did not wait to be called on to speak. 

“Is it true that there’s a giant monster living in the lake?” they asked. A ripple of laughter spread across those in the group who weren’t now looking to the trees with caution. The boy sitting beside them sat up a little. 

“No Joan, there’s no monster in the lake.” He sighed, smiling all the while. “Trust me, I’ve been coming here for years, and I can promise you that nothing that has exciting ever--” 

**_CRASH_ **

Something large and heavy had landed in the bush behind them. A groan rumbled in its branches. Before they had a chance to see what it was, the camper at the end of their row jumped up and shrieked at the top of their lungs, “LAKE MONSTER!” at which point all hell broke loose. Children screamed, ran from their seats, stumbled and crashed into each other. Patton looked on in horror.

“Oh no you don’t, lake monster…!” Logan muttered, throwing his hand towards the spot where it had fallen. The bushes rustled and something let out a squawk. Logan grunted, channeling all of his psychic energy into a final hard yank that brought the creature flying out of the bush. 

“Hey wait a minute Lo, that’s just a little kid!” Patton whispered. There above the bush, suspended by his ankle, was a boy about the same age as the other campers. 

“Indeed.” Logan frowned. “How embarrassing.” 

“Well, bring him over here!” 

Logan nodded, carefully lifting him over the now scattered mass of children and dropping him in front of them. 

“Oof!” He winced as he hit the ground. He looked up to see the three agents staring down at him, surprised, confused, and slightly amused. He gave them a nervous smile. “Uh… hi?” 

“Hey there.” Patton greeted him softly, kneeling down to eye level. “What’s your name, kiddo?” The boy hesitated, glancing at the two others before coming back to Patton. 

“Thomas.” he replied. Patton’s brow furrowed, but he maintained a gentle smile. 

“Mmm, I don’t remember seeing a Thomas on our list this year…” he mumbled. 

“Uh… well, I um, enrolled a little late.” Thomas climbed to his feet and carefully stepped backwards off the stage. “But I’m here now! So I’ll just get out of your way, and--.” 

“Oh no you don’t.” This time Janus grabbed him- physically, by the shoulder. 

“This is a highly advanced, _top secret_ government training facility, not a playground..” Logan glared down at him. Thomas grinned back. 

“I know! This is where you train the psychics, right? That’s why I’m here!” He said. Janus raised an eyebrow. Patton’s smile began to waver.

“It is… but you can’t just--” 

“I asked them where I could go to learn how to use my powers, and they brought me right here! Camp Whispering Rock!” 

“Well, that’s very sweet, but--” 

“Because that’s like, my dream! I’ve read every issue of True Psychic Tales since I was just a little kid, but I’ve never met a real psychic before. Now I get to learn from some of the best ones in the world! This is going to be so, so--” 

“Young man, you cannot stay here.” Logan cut in. “Just because you decided to show up and break in doesn’t mean we’re going to let you.” 

“I’m afraid he’s right.” Patton added. “Not that we wouldn’t be happy to have you, but without your parent’s permission we can’t really let you stay here.” Thomas’s smile crumbled.

“But…” 

“I’m sorry, bud, it’s out of our hands.” Patton smiled sadly. “Come on, let’s go see if we can reach your parents.” 

“Hold on a minute, you two. I think we should hear him out.” Janus’s eyes narrowed. He had been watching Thomas with a curious smirk. “Who told you about this camp, Thomas? Your parents?” 

“No. They did.” Thomas pointed up to the high redwood trees surrounding the clearing. They looked up. Logan grabbed for his flashlight and shined it into the branches, but found nothing but a few startled squirrels. 

“Who’s up there?” he called. 

“No, not a person.” Thomas huffed. “The trees!” 

“The… trees?” Patton repeated.

“Yeah.” Thomas looked back at them. “And the bushes, and flowers, and weeds. They always know which paths are safe, so I just followed their lead.” Patton studied his expression, lips pursed as if he were trying to think of the kindest way to explain to him that trees could not, in fact, speak. After a moment’s thought, a look of realization flashed across Janus’s face. 

“You can talk to plants.” he murmured. 

“Yeah… can’t you?” Thomas looked up at him, confused. 

“Herbaphony _is_ an exceptionally rare psychic talent.” Logan muttered, stroking his chin. “And not a well-understood one. This would make for a good case study…” 

“Well, maybe, but… _legally_ we can’t let him stay here. You can’t bend the rules just to use him as a guinea pig, Logan.” 

“Patton, I’m surprised at you.” Janus scoffed, feigning surprise. “This young man came all the way here to learn under you, a psychic master, and you’re going to turn him away? Kick him to the curb, on a cold night like this?” Janus shot Thomas a glance, which he took as a cue to give Patton the biggest, saddest puppy dog eyes he could. 

“No, of course not! I mean…” He bit his lip. Unfortunately for Patton, he had always been a sucker for puppies. “It is pretty late… I guess he can stay for a day or two. Just until his parents pick him up.” Thomas’s face lit up. “But we can’t let you participate in any of our psychic training sessions without consent from your parents.” Thomas started to protest, but stopped himself. Patton gave him a sympathetic smile. 

“Alright everyone, you’re dismissed to your cabins.” Logan called out. Some of the other campers had taken the opportunity to wander off while they’d been talking to Thomas. Anyone who hadn’t- or had been too afraid of potential lake monsters to leave the safe glow of the campfire- did so now. “Wake-up call is at eight o’clock, on the dot. Lights out in half an hour.” He stepped off the platform, herding the stragglers towards the path to the cabins. Patton stood and gave Thomas a pat on the head.

“Come on kiddo, let’s go see if we can find you an open bunk.” He gestured for Thomas to follow. Thomas hopped down, brushed the twigs out of his hair, and trotted after him. He stole a glance back at Janus. The remaining agent had busied himself putting out lights and dousing the campfire. His eyes followed Thomas as he did. Thomas flashed him a tense smile, then turned his eyes back to the trail. He didn’t have the energy to wonder what was going through anyone else’s head right now. All that mattered was that he made it to the camp. 


	2. Protective Headgear

The path to the main campground took them back through the trees and around the hill Thomas had come over when he snuck in. They passed the dining hall- a large building with a wide, angled roof and a winding ramp leaning up to it. Thomas had seen it on his way in- the trees around it had long since been cleared, so it was pretty hard to miss. 

What he hadn’t seen was the large treehouse-like structure on the other side of the hill from it. Thomas gazed up at it as they approached. For a moment he thought (hoped) that was where they’d be sleeping, but then he spotted the cabins at the bottom of the hill. Disappointing. The lights were off inside, but he could make out what looked like benches. Maybe it was some kind of classroom?

Through the trees he could see the lake. A long dock wrapped around the shoreline and stretched into the water. Canoes bobbed against the side. The water around the beach had been roped off. Lights twinkled on some high structure in the distance. A lighthouse maybe? Though it wasn’t nearly bright enough. 

“Am I allowed to go swimming in the lake?” he asked. Patton looked out at the water. 

“Maybe.” he mumbled. “The psychic stuff is off-limits, but we do have life vests… it’d be a bummer to keep you cooped up in the TV room all day when you’re out here in the middle of a beautiful forest.” Thomas’s nose wrinkled at the thought of being stuffed in a ratty old life vest. He knew how to swim! He was from Florida, damnit!

“You’re sure there isn’t _any_ psychic stuff I can do? Even just super basic stuff?” he asked. He couldn’t tell if Patton was considering it or if he was annoyed at being asked again, but he gave him the same forced smile that he had before. 

“Bud, if it were up to me I’d let you do as much psychic stuff as you want! But we gotta follow the rules.” Patton sighed. “Maybe when your parents get here we can talk to them about signing you up for next year?” 

“I already asked. They said it sounded like “some kind of loony hippie scam” and that I shouldn’t be getting wrapped up in psychic stuff.” Thomas crossed his arms over his chest. Patton looked a little hurt by that, but his expression softened with sympathy.

“Well… I’ll talk to them. Maybe we can figure something out.” he mumbled. Thomas sighed and nodded. In his heart, he knew it was hopeless. His parents had never listened to him about psychic stuff before, why would they start now?

There were five small cabins arranged in a half circle at the bottom of the hill. Campers milled about, talking to one another, catching up, unpacking their personal effects. They quieted down when he and Patton joined them. Some of them pointed and whispered to each other. A few laughed. Thomas stared down at his feet. He followed Patton to the cabin at the end of the row- the only one with nobody in front of it. Were they going to stick him in an empty cabin to keep him away from the other kids?

Patton knocked three times on the cabin door, then opened it without waiting for a response. “Knock-knock!” he called, stepping inside. Thomas peeked in. The bunk bed on the right side of the cabin was empty, but there was a boy laying on his stomach in the top bunk on the left. “Hey bud! You hangin’ out in here by yourself?” The boy shrugged. “You got an open bunk in here, right?” 

“I got three open bunks right now, but two of them are gonna have kids sleeping in them later.” the boy replied. Patton chuckled at that. 

“You mind if we turn that two into a three?” he asked, “Our new friend here needs to room with someone for a couple nights.” The boy glanced over at him, then sat up. He had dark, messy hair and square glasses that magnified his deep brown eyes. There was a band-aid over his chin. Probably an injury from tree climbing or bike riding or something cool like that, Thomas decided. He looked Thomas up and down, then shrugged. 

“Sure, I don’t care.” 

“Super!” Patton grinned at him. “Oh, this is Thomas by the way. Thomas, this is our very own Nico Flores. He’s been coming here even longer than me, so he knows the place inside-out!” Thomas gave him a small wave. Nico gave an even smaller one, then went back to what he was doing. 

Patton looked back and forth between them, perhaps hoping that one of them would have more to say. “Hey, maybe you could introduce him to your cabin mates? Get him acquainted with everything?” He glanced around. “Where are those little rugrats anyway?” 

“Joan and Talyn went to go blow up pine cones or something down by the creek.” 

“Oh!” Patton’s smile stiffened. “Huh! Well, I’m gonna go check on them. You two get settled in… and don’t do anything dangerous while I’m gone.” 

“Okay.” 

Patton gingerly stepped around Thomas. The moment he was out of the cabin he took off running back up the hill. Without looking up Nico flicked his hand, and the door shut behind him. It startled Thomas. He hoped Nico didn’t notice. 

He looked around the tiny room. The other two bunks had backpacks and duffle bags piled on them, but the one below Nico’s was empty and neatly made. A mosaic of stickers and stamps covered the steel bedposts, and pennants from old camp events lined the walls: “2nd place telekinetic canoeing championship, 1977;” “1st place psychic archery competition, 1978;” “3rd place underwater basket weaving contest, 1979.” Each one had a line at the bottom for a child’s name to be written. As far as he could see, they all belonged to Nico. Thomas set his backpack down on the bed below his and stole a glance up at him, just in time to catch Nico look away.

“Uh, hi there.” he said quietly. 

“What’s up, lake monster?” Nico said with a smirk. Thomas’s brow furrowed. 

“I’m not a lake monster.” 

“Then why were you lurking in the forest? Were you spying on us?” Nico asked, not bothering to peel his eyes off of his book. 

“No! I was just… waiting for the right moment to slip into the crowd.” 

“So, at some point during orientation, you imagined there would be a right moment for you to drop down from the trees and blend in?” 

“…” 

“You know they did a head count at the gate when we got here?” 

“I didn’t think it through that far, okay?!” Thomas spluttered. Nico laughed and set his book down. 

“Chill out, I’m just messing with you.” He leaned on the railing of his bunk, resting his chin in his hand. “Honestly you’re not even the weirdest person here. Just give it a week or two and nobody will even care.” 

“I don’t think I’m even gonna be here in a week…” 

“Why, you that homesick already?” 

“Patton says I’m not allowed to stay.” 

“Ohh… bummer.” Nico’s smile dropped. “Well if it makes you feel any better, you’re not missing anything cool. This is pretty much just a regular summer camp with some psychic stuff thrown in.”

“That’s the whole reason I’m here!!” Thomas threw up his hands. “Where else am I gonna learn psychic stuff?” Nico shrugged. 

“Can’t you get someone back home to teach you?” 

“No… My family lives in the middle of nowhere. I’ve never even _met_ another psychic before today.” Thomas sighed and plopped down on his bunk.

“Well, what do you still need to learn?” Nico asked. Thomas thought for a moment. Aside from herbaphony he’d only been able to teach himself a handful of psychic tricks, most of which were from True Psychic Tales magazine. It was hard to say which ones were real or fake, let alone which ones were just adults playing along with him.

“Everything…?” he replied hesitantly. Nico pursed his lips. 

“Hmm. Yeah, not sure I can help you with that…” he muttered. “Maybe you could get Janus to teach you.”

“You mean Agent Oboros?” Thomas asked. 

“Yeah. He can’t actually do that much psychic stuff, so Pat usually has him do basic training for the new kids. You could go talk to him tomorrow.” 

Thomas considered it. “Patton said I couldn’t do any training without my parent’s permission.” 

“Well, unless you want to find another kid to teach you, he’s probably your best bet.” Nico muttered, taking up his book again. “Just tell him that you really, _really_ want to.” 

Thomas flopped back in bed with a groan. He’d come too far to get shot down now. Agent Oboros did seem like his best option. He’d been the one to push the others into letting him stay. Maybe he would hear him out one more time? He could always get up early and talk to him before class. After all, the worst thing he could do was say no, right? 

After a few minutes Patton returned to the door with two children in tow, each of them dusted with ash. One of them wore a bright orange beanie over their messy black bangs, and the other a plastic viking helmet over a shock of purple hair. Patton wore nothing on his head, though there were a few smoldering pinecone chips in his hair that hadn’t been there before. It wasn’t a good look for him.

“And _that_ ,” he said, “is why that part of the forest is blocked off. Do not let me catch you two in there again.” 

“How were we supposed to know that cougar would shoot fire at us?” 

“You come here every year! You should know these things by now!” Patton shouted down at them. Thomas winced. Usually adults yelling at him made him cry, but even when upset Patton was surprisingly unintimidating. He shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a deep breath. “Just… stick to the trails from now on? Please?” 

“Ohh- _kay…_ ” they said. Patton let out a long sigh. When he looked up, he was smiling again. 

“Thank you.” he said quietly. He looked over at Thomas and Nico. “You boys still doing alright in here? No disasters?” 

“You’re too late, Pat.” Nico mumbled, flipping a page in his book.. “The whole camp burned down while you were gone. It was horrible. I’m dead now, Patton.” Patton laughed, stealing a quick glance outside to confirm that he was joking. 

“Alrighty then. I’m gonna go check on the other campers. You kids sleep tight!” Patton stepped out and shut the door behind him. Nico listened to his footsteps disappear down the path before he sat up and addressed his cabin mates. 

“How’d the pinecone grenades go?” he asked. 

“They kinda didn’t.” Talyn sighed, wiping off their viking horns on their camp t-shirt. “They don’t have as much firepower as we hoped. They just made a mess. A sappy, flammable mess…”

“Mostly they just made a lot of pinecone shrapnel.” Joan added. “Which was good for fending off the cougars, but not what we were going for.” 

“That’s why I packed protective headgear.” Talyn knocked their fist against their plastic helmet to demonstrate. 

“I have protective headgear!” Joan lifted the edge of their beanie to show the carefully sculpted tinfoil underneath. “Armored like a tank!” 

“Yeah, if you want to protect yourself from blowing up someone’s head, not from pinecone shrapnel or fire. If that cougar caught you it’d bake your brain like a potato!” 

“Nuh-uh! If I did get caught by the cougar I’d just take it off and blow up its--who’s that?” 

Thomas blinked. They had finally noticed his presence and were staring at him. Talyn gasped and covered their mouth. 

“Lake monster…!” they whispered, pointing at Thomas dramatically. He could see the smile hidden behind their sleeve. Thomas pouted. 

“Not a lake monster.” he muttered. “I’m Thomas. Just a regular psychic kid with regular psychic powers.” 

“They probably wouldn’t let you stay here if you were a lake monster.” Joan laughed. “Otherwise they’d have to start letting in the cougars and bears, and that would never fly with Patton.” 

“I don’t think they’re gonna let me stay anyway…” Thomas mumbled. 

“At least you won’t have to stick around for the underwater basket weaving contest.” Talyn shrugged. They sat on the lowest ladder rung and took off their shoes. Instead of climbing the ladder itself they summoned a levitation ball beneath their feet and bounced off of it. Their helmet rammed the ceiling, leaving its horns jammed between a pair of wooden planks. “You guys see that?” they said, standing on their bed to pluck the hat out of the ceiling. “I could have cracked my head on the ceiling, but the helmet saved me. Protective headgear.” 

“You wouldn’t even be tall enough to reach the ceiling if you weren’t wearing that thing!” Joan snickered. They kicked off their shoes next to the ladder and threw themself backwards into bed. 

“Are you gonna sleep in that hat?” Thomas asked. 

“I’m not supposed to take it off while I’m at camp.” Joan shrugged, pulling a comic book out of their backpack. “Otherwise all the tinfoil will fall out and get lost. But I wasn’t gonna take it off anyway.” 

“What about when you wash your hair?” 

“Hair can’t get dirty if it’s under a hat the whole time.” Joan countered, tapping their forehead knowingly. 

“Ohhh.” Thomas nodded. “That’s smart. Maybe I should invest in some hats when I get home...” he murmured. Then, without warning, the lantern above their heads clicked off.

**_“Ten o’clock! Lights out, everyone!”_ **

Thomas jumped. Agent Klein’s voice rang through his head, clear as if he were standing right next to him, but he was nowhere to be seen. He didn’t even look to be closeby. None of the other children seemed disturbed by this. They only groaned and started to put their things away. 

Talyn hung their helmet on the bedpost and crawled under the blankets. Nico shut his book and stuffed it under their pillow. Joan scowled towards the door and rolled over, comic book still in hand. Thomas thought he saw a flickery orange light under their blanket, but he decided not to question it. Now that he was actually laying in bed, he realized how tired his trek through the forest had made him. He slipped under the blankets and snuggled up with his pillow. It smelled like dust and old fabric softener, but soon enough Thomas found himself drifting off, lulled to sleep by the whispering wind and the distant song of crickets.

* * *

Thomas wasn’t sure what time it was when he woke up, but he could tell from the pale sunlight filtering through the dirty cabin window that it was, in fact, morning. He looked around at the others. Joan and Talyn were still in their bunks. He couldn’t see Nico, but he could see the ancient-looking wool blanket that had come untucked from his mattress and was now dangling above his. He could also hear him snoring, which seemed like a pretty good indicator that he was still asleep. 

Quiet as he could, Thomas sat up. What was it about campground mattresses that made them the loudest in the world? Was it years of exposure to the elements that made the springs screech with even the tiniest movement, so much so that it seemed safer to sit on the floor while putting his shoes on than it did to risk waking everybody else up by doing so in bed? Or maybe it was the kind of thing you only noticed when you were trying to be quiet. The door was no better, but thankfully it opened on his side of the cabin. He cracked it just enough to slip out and carefully shut it behind him. 

The cool morning air made him wish he had brought his jacket, but it was too late to go back for it now. He glanced around the little clearing. The lights were still off in all the other cabins. Up the hill he could see lights on in the dining hall, as well as the odd little classroom looming over their cabins. Thomas started towards it. Nico had said Janus would be doing the first round of training for the new kids. Surely it made the most sense to hold basic training in a classroom, right? 

Thomas hurried up the ramp to the building, taking care to quiet his footsteps as best he could. If Janus wasn’t the one inside, he didn’t want to give himself away. When he reached the top he found the door was open. He peered inside. The room was round, with two levels of benches running its perimeter. At the far end there was a desk and a cabinet, in which Janus- yes, it was Janus!- was digging around. 

Thomas hadn’t really gotten a good look at him the night before. He was a small man, with mousy hair and an angry red scar splashed across the left side of his face. His sharp eyes were cloaked under the shadow of a brimmed black hat. He grumbled to himself as he moved things from one shelf to another. Thomas braced himself, then knocked meekly on the open door frame. Janus gave an exasperated sigh and cursed under his breath. 

“Yes, what is it?” he muttered, shooting a glance over his shoulder. Thomas gulped. Those sharp eyes were much more imposing when they were turned on him. He did a double take when he realized Thomas was the one standing in the doorway. “Oh! Hello there.” He stood and turned to face him, no longer scowling. That was probably a good sign, right?

“Good morning!” Thomas flashed him a nervous smile. “Uh, whatcha doing?” 

“Getting ready for basic training.” Janus said, glancing at the clock on the far wall. “You know, wake-up isn’t for another hour… although since you won’t be joining us for training, I suppose that doesn’t mean much to you.” he added dryly. Thomas took a stiff breath. 

“Actually, that’s why I’m here.” Thomas started, fidgeting with his hands behind his back. “I heard that you handle training here, so I was wondering--” 

“You were wondering if I’d break the law and put my job on the line to teach you how to make things float?” 

Thomas winced. When he put it like that, it almost sounded like he was asking him to do something crazy. “I thought you’d be the best person to ask.” 

“Oh really?” Janus crossed his arms over his chest. “And why is that?” 

“Well, you stuck up for me yesterday.” 

“I stopped them from silencing you because I wanted to know how you got here. This is a secret government facility, I find it unlikely that a random ten-year-old would be able to find it on his own.” 

“But you still got them to let me stay. At least for a little while.” Thomas wracked his brain for a better argument. “And I know you care about helping people. I read about you in True Psychic Tales Issue #203! The one where you fought that evil brain-stealing dentist and saved all those psychic kids? It’s one of my favorites!” Janus raised his eyebrows at that. 

“That story was highly dramatized.” he chuckled. “You can’t believe everything you read in True Psychic Tales magazine… and it’s going to take more than flattery to sway me, Thomas.” Janus rolled his eyes and turned back to the shelf. Thomas’s hopeful smile began to wilt.

“Please? I’m the only psychic in my town. Everybody thinks I’m some weirdo who talks to plants, even my parents. And I mean, maybe I am, but… I want to be more than that. I want to _do_ something!” His voice began to quaver. “I don’t have anyone else to teach me. If I don’t learn as much as I can while I’m here I’ll never get to use any of my powers!” Janus said nothing to that. His heart sank. Maybe he really was asking too much. A real psychonaut wouldn’t cry just because they didn’t get their way. He sniffled, then started back towards the cabins. God forbid anyone see him crying over this. 

“Thomas.” Janus called out. Thomas stopped, hesitated, then turned around. Janus still wasn’t looking at him. “Sit.” 

“Wh-what?” Thomas murmured, ashamed of his own cracking voice. 

“Sit down, somewhere, anywhere.” Janus sighed, gesturing vaguely towards the nearest row of benches. “Can’t let you train standing up, you’ll fall and hurt yourself.” Thomas looked to the benches, then to him, his eyes wide and hopeful. 

“You’re going to train me?” 

“Sure, why not? Where has following the rules ever gotten anyone?” Janus flashed him a wry grin. “Just don’t tell Patton.” Thomas zipped his fingers across his lips. A smile had bloomed on his face. Janus took something from his desk, holding it up for Thomas to see. It looked like a tiny door, no bigger than the palm of his hand. Thomas’s eyes widened. “I take it you already know what this is?”

“It’s a psycho-portal!” He leaned forward to get a better look. He’d seen them in comics before, though each one looked a little different. Janus’s was stained pure black with a delicate yellow pattern printed on it and a yellow Psychonaut insignia in the center. Thomas tugged on the tiny golden doorknob, but it didn’t open. 

“You can’t use it until there’s something on the other side.” Janus said, “It needs a mind to open.” Of course, Thomas knew how they worked. The psychonauts in his comic books were always using them to hop in and out of people’s minds. There didn’t seem to be anything on the other side, so he had always imagined that an inactive portal would just open into empty air.

“Are you gonna go into my mind to teach me?” he asked. 

“No dear, you’re already a liability as it is. For teaching purposes, you’re going to be joining me in mine.” Janus took the seat in the middle of the room, turning to face Thomas. “Have you ever used astral projection before?” he asked. Thomas shook his head. “No, I suppose that’s beyond your skill… when the door opens, you should feel sort of a… psychic pull. All you have to do is follow it.” 

“Alright.” Thomas sat on the nearest bench, crossed his legs, and folded his hands in his lap. He closed his eyes… then a few seconds later he peeled one of them open. “Is this gonna hurt?” 

“Oh yes, It feels like your brain is being turned inside out and extracted through your nose. That’s why we do it to dozens of children every single year.” Janus muttered. For a moment Thomas just stared at him, unable to decide if he was being serious or not. Janus sighed. “You might feel a little lightheaded your first time, but no, it doesn’t hurt.” 

Thomas nodded. Janus took off his hat and brushed his hair aside, then placed the portal on his forehead. Once affixed the door popped open easily. Thomas tried to peek at what was inside, but he could only see white light. “Alright, let’s do this.” Janus leaned back in his seat and shut his eyes. Thomas did the same. 

He didn’t feel anything at first. At least, not physically. But after waiting a few moments he felt it; a tug at his psyche, a gentle invitation to follow where the door could lead. Thomas focused on the sensation, leaning into it. With some effort he felt his senses begin to peel away from his body. His eyes, ears, hands, they all stayed where they were- he knew they did. He could see them. He watched the smile on his own face grow wider as he drifted away. 

“Come on, Thomas, don’t keep me waiting all day.” Janus’s voice snapped him back to the task at hand. 

“Right, sorry!” Oh, how strange to hear your own voice coming from a few feet away. He took a final glance back at his body, then approached the door. Its pull was stronger up close. He let it pull him in and, when he was close enough, dove through the doorway into Janus’s mind. 


	3. Enter The Janus

“You can open your eyes now, Thomas.” 

Thomas blinked. He hadn’t realized they were closed, nor that he even had eyes _to_ close. He felt for his arms, chest, legs… yep, all there. He looked up at Janus. They both appeared just as they had before. The space around them, however, was completely different. 

They were in a round room, standing on a round platform in the center. Red curtains ran the perimeter. Spotlights shone down from somewhere above their heads, but when he looked up all he could see were box seats running all the way up to the domed ceiling above them. Golden detailing snaked their way around each box. It reminded him a little of when his mom took him into town during Christmas to go see the local production of The Nutcracker or A Christmas Carol, only here the seats were even emptier. 

“Your mind is a theater?” 

“This is the part of my mind I open for students.” Janus replied. “It’s not like I can just let you go wandering around in my thoughts.” 

“I guess that makes sense.” Thomas shrugged. He probably wouldn’t want a bunch of kids wandering around in his head either. “So when does the training start?” 

“Well, I’ve got everything I need right here.” Janus waved his hand, and a trio of oversized playing cards rose from nothing. They drifted in the air around him, waiting to be used. Probably something awesome, he thought. “So we can start as soon as you’re ready.” Thomas looked to Janus, his eager smile replaced with something more serious. 

“Janus,” Thomas lowered his voice. “I am more ready for this than I’ve ever been for anything in my life!” He stared up at Janus, determination glowing in his eyes. Janus gazed back in amusement.

“Okay.” he smirked. “Think fast.” He snapped his fingers. One of the cards stopped, turned, and shot towards him. Thomas leapt out of its way, letting out a startled squawk as it whizzed past his head and embedded itself in the wall with a loud _thunk._ It stuck in place, rigid as a slab of steel. 

“Good reflexes, but the idea is to _catch_ the card, not dodge it.” Janus chuckled. Thomas gawked at him.

“That thing almost killed me!” 

“Oh, no it didn’t.” Janus scoffed. “It’s not real. Nothing here can hurt you, Thomas, it’s all imaginary. Worst case scenario you just get knocked out of my mind and we have to start over.” Thomas gulped. It sure hadn’t felt imaginary when it was hurtling past his head. Sure, maybe it wouldn’t kill him, sure, but it sounded like it would hurt! Janus raised a hand and pulled the second card into his orbit. “Now, this time I want you to catch it using telekinesis.” 

“Telekinesis…” Thomas murmured, his eyes fixed on the card. Only now did he notice how sharp its edges looked. “Uh, okay… How do I do that?” Janus raised an eyebrow. 

“You’ve really never used any of your other powers before?” he muttered, toying with the card in his hand. Thomas frowned. Sure, he’d done other things before. Talking to flowers for one, and he could bend spoons with the best of them since he was a baby. One time at school he had even lit a kid’s hair on fire- though not before receiving an awful black eye. 

“Not on purpose…” he mumbled. Janus pursed his lips. 

“Okay… you know the part of your mind you tap into when you talk to plants? The part that lets you feel their feelings? That’s what you need to tap into. Can you do that?”

“Let me see…” Thomas closed his eyes. He’d been talking to the flowers for most of his life. Their leaves and branches spoke to him, not with words but with soft sensation: the calm of the spring rain; the joy of sunshine in the summer; the wave of relief that came with a warm blanket around your stem on a cold winter day. It was something he felt at the core of his mind. When he had spoken back it was to ask the crapemyrtle which branches the wood beetles were hiding in, or to ask the persimmon tree if it wouldn’t mind him taking a little snack- which of course xe never did. He rarely tried to reach it when there were no plants to talk to, but there it was, in the core of his mind, comfortable and familiar. 

“I think I got it.” He looked to Janus, who stood watching him with narrowed eyes.

“Reach through that part of your mind.” he instructed, holding the card up for him to see. “I’m going to throw this, and this time you’re going to catch it.” 

“Okay.” Thomas nodded. He braced his feet against the ground and held up his hands like he was getting ready to catch a baseball. Janus flicked the next card straight at his head. Thomas clapped his hands shut, flinching away from the impact… but it didn’t come. He hesitantly cracked one eye open. The card had stopped in midair, suspended in place by a crackling pink light. “Whoa…” he murmured. With his loss of concentration the light disappeared, and the card fluttered. to the ground. 

“Better!” Janus called, “You’re getting there. You can guide it with your hands if you want, but remember your mind is controlling it.” Thomas looked down at his hands. This psychic stuff was trickier than he thought… “Keeping your eyes open might also help.” he added. Thomas shot him a dirty look. 

“I don’t want it to hit me!” 

“It’s not going to hit you if you catch it!” Janus reminded him. “And now you’ve seen that you can.” Thomas huffed. He could do this. Janus took the last card of his set. “One more. Make this one count.” 

Thomas planted his feet in the ground, his eyes fixed on the card. He was ready this time. The card flew towards him and, reaching, through hand and mind, he grabbed for it. The card came to a sharp and sudden stop just a few feet in front of him. Thomas gasped. This time his psychic grip had properly taken shape- a hand, shimmering and translucent, holding the card between its thumb and forefinger. Thomas stared at it in awe. 

“I did it!” He looked back at Janus, whose thrilled grin mirrored Thomas’s own. 

“You did!” Janus laughed, giving him a polite little clap. “Very good!” Thomas beamed at him. He tried to move the hand, and found that he could control it as easily as he could a piece of his own body. A mischievous idea crossed his mind. 

“Hey Janus?” He called, flashing him a smirk. “Think fast!” Thomas threw the card back as hard as he could. Janus, unprepared, had only a breath to react before the card clocked him in the side of the head and knocked him off his feet. Thomas froze. 

“Janus?” he called. Janus groaned, but otherwise didn’t move. The hand disappeared, and Thomas rushed to his side. “Oh my god, I’m _so_ sorry! I didn’t mean for that to actually hit you, I-I just thought it would be funny--” 

“It’s fine!” Janus held up a hand to stop him, then pulled himself upright. The card had embedded itself in the scarred side of his face, leaving a long slice from the corner of his mouth through his ear. “I suppose I deserved that… and for the record, it was _very_ funny.” Thomas grimaced at the sight. 

“Does it hurt…?” he asked. 

“Of course it hurts, Thomas, you just sliced my face open.” He spoke with such casual snark that he couldn’t tell whether or not he meant it. Janus plucked the card from his flesh and brushed his fingers over the gash, smoothing the skin like clay until it was like the wound had never been there in the first place. “There, see? No harm done.” 

“Yeesh…” Thomas shuddered. 

“What, are you squeamish?” Janus teased him. “I suppose I’m desensitized. You see far worse than that when you spend a lot of time in other people’s minds.” 

“I’ll avoid going into other people’s minds then...” he muttered. He didn’t really want to see anything like that again- or, more importantly, hurt anybody. Although if he needed one of those little doors to get into somebody’s head, he doubted he would get another chance anyway. 

“Alright, let’s move onto something else.” Janus stood and brushed himself off, replacing the distance between himself and Thomas. “Let’s say someone tries to sling something at you that you don’t want to catch.” Just as he’d pulled the cards, Janus produced a spike of crackling energy. He pointed it in Thomas’s direction- a question, not a threat. “What do you do then?” 

“Uhh…” Thomas stared at it. That definitely looked like it would hurt. “Shield myself?” 

“Very good.” Janus nodded. “You think you can handle that?” 

“Only one way to find out, right?” Thomas laughed nervously. Janus only shrugged in agreement. He spun the projectile lazily in the air, giving Thomas a moment to prepare himself, then hucked it straight towards him. This time, he was ready. Thomas kept his eyes fixed on the spike and, when it was close enough, slammed it back with a wall of psychic energy. The impact knocked him back a step, but the spike flew through the curtains and out of sight. 

“Outstanding!” Janus grinned at him. Thomas grinned back.

“Aww come on, that was nothing!” 

“Don’t sell yourself short, Thomas. People struggle with that one more than you’d think.” he chided. Thomas only laughed and waved him off. 

“Gimme another one.” Thomas said. Janus raised an eyebrow at him. 

“Looks like someone found their confidence.” he chuckled. “Alright, how about this?” He pulled up two more spikes and flung them towards him. Again Thomas batted them offstage. The second one made him stumble, but he managed to regain his footing. “Are you just trying to show off?” 

“Practice makes perfect, right?” 

“That it does.” Janus smirked. This time he pulled up three spikes, bigger than the ones before. Stray tendrils of energy crackled and popped between them. “How’s this for practice?” 

“Try me!” 

Janus launched each spike one after the other. The first one rattled his balance. The energy around it buzzed and jittered against his psychic shield until he managed to cast it off. The second caught him off guard. He could feel its heat against the back of his hand. He took a few steps back as the third approached, but that didn’t stop it from knocking him off his feet. Thomas staggered backwards to the edge of the stage. He grabbed for the curtain to regain his balance, but his hand passed through it like it was nothing and he stumbled right through. 

“ _Thomas!_ ” 

A startled gasp escaped him. Something caught his wrist. He looked down. Janus was staring back at him, his face contorted in shock. He glanced at the ground beneath him. One foot was still touching the stage, anchored by a psychic grip not unlike his own, shimmering with a soft yellow light. The other dangled into the dark and bottomless nothing below. It was as if the world beyond the stage simply didn’t exist. 

“Careful now…” Janus gently led him back from the edge. “Sorry about that. I usually have more time to put up my mental walls before I let students in.” 

“Where’s the rest of your mind…?” Thomas murmured. The fear in Janus’s eyes dulled with shame.

“It’s out there.” He sighed. “This is just a… mental gap.” With Thomas safely back from the edge he pulled the curtain shut. “Stay away from the edge, Thomas. You don’t want to find out what’s down there.” 

“Um… okay.” Thomas frowned, shuffling a little further away. Now thoroughly uncomfortable, Janus paced back to center stage, arms crossed. Thomas followed a few steps behind. 

“Should we try again…?” 

“No. That’s probably enough of that for one day…” Janus mumbled. Thomas pressed his lips together. 

“Is there anything else you can teach me…?” he asked. “Please?” Janus went quiet for a moment.

“Well, normally that’s all I handle for basic training.” he muttered “Patton and Logan take over for the rest.”

“Oh…” Thomas’s shoulders slumped. Janus pursed his lips, drumming his fingers along his arm. 

“...but it would be a shame to leave you with such a downer of an ending.” he mused. “Maybe just one more?” Thomas perked up. 

“One more!” 

“Atta boy!” Janus laughed, putting a fresh smile on his face. “Let’s go with something a little less dangerous… think you could handle clairvoyance?” he asked. “Seeing the world through the eyes of another… that’s an empathic skill, so it’s a little more in your wheelhouse.” 

“Oooh, yeah, let’s try it! Okay, what do I do?” Thomas stood back a bit, but Janus ushered him closer. 

“This isn’t a combat skill, you won’t be swinging around or anything.” he chuckled. “Let’s see… I want you to try and do what you usually do with your plants, but on me. Try to focus on my eyes.” 

Thomas’s face scrunched in confusion. People were very different from plants. Plants were soft, carefree, and kind, where the people in his life had always been cold and judgemental. That said, Janus had been nothing but kind to him. Perhaps that would make it easier? 

He stared up into Janus’s eyes for a few seconds, then closed his own. Janus was there, as clear as any plant he’d ever met, but like all people he was a lot more complicated. He had all kinds of thoughts and feelings knotted up inside him, many of which were negative. If he were a tree Thomas would be very concerned for his health. Fortunately, he was just an adult. 

“Are you having a hard time?” Janus asked.

“No, I’m just not used to doing this with people. Usually I start from the roots and work my way up.” he mumbled. Janus raised his eyebrows, then conceded a nod. “But I think I got it…” He traced his way through the nervous system, through the brain, into the eyes. 

It took a moment to come into focus, but when they did everything looked… the same. Well, almost. Perhaps it made sense that Janus saw his own mind exactly as it was, but when Thomas looked down at himself he was surprised to see something unfamiliar in his place. He still looked like him, sure, but different. For one, he never wore hats. This version of him wore a round black one with a brim that shaded his eyes. In the place of his t-shirt was a striped yellow sweater and a long black coat. When he looked closer he found that his face was slightly different too. There was an edge to his gaze he wasn’t used to, as if he looked on the world in perpetual suspicion. 

“I look like a tiny version of you.” Thomas concluded. Janus’s eyes widened. 

“Oh! That’s a little embarrassing…” he muttered. 

“Why?” Thomas opened his eyes. “That’s not even what I look like.”

“Well, no, that’s not exactly how it works. Clairvoyance doesn’t _literally_ show you what things look like, it’s more… metaphorical.” 

“So in your mind I look like you, because… I remind you of yourself…?” 

“Something like that.” Janus shrugged, sizing him up. “A younger version of myself, perhaps? If anything, I wish I’d been more like you, Thomas. I never had the guts to run away from _my_ parents.” he laughed, giving him a playful nudge on the shoulder. Thomas’s heart swelled with pride, and he stood up a little straighter. To think, a real psychonaut wanted to be more like _him!_

“Thank you, Agent Oboros.” Thomas beamed up at him. “I’ll try not to let you down.” 

“Oh, I’m sure you won’t, dear…” Janus trailed off, his hand coming to rest on Thomas’s shoulder. The words barely had time to settle on his lips when the ground began to tremor beneath their feet. 

“What was that…?” Thomas looked around. Janus sighed, glaring upwards at nothing in particular. 

“I was hoping he wouldn’t do this…” he muttered. “Sorry Thomas, looks like this is the end of our little lesson.” Janus retracted his hand, the only thing that had been keeping Thomas steady. The room rattled around them as if someone were shaking it like a can of spray paint.

“Uh, Agent Oboros?!” Thomas stuck out his arms for balance, but was knocked off his feet. He fell through the floor itself and into a very hard landing. He groaned, rubbing the back of his dizzy head. What did he even hit? “Oww…” 

“What is going on here?”

Thomas froze. He was back in the classroom. By the looks of it he’d fallen backwards and hit his head on the bench behind him when he got kicked out of Janus’s mind. Patton stood in front of him, arms crossed and scowling, holding Janus’s psycho-portal in his hand. Thomas scrambled to think of a response, but Janus beat him to it. 

“I invited Thomas for a private session.” He replied, still sitting calmly in his chair at the center of the room. “You said he couldn’t join in our training, but I thought he might benefit from some… extracurricular practice.” 

“Extra-- _Janus_ !” Patton stomped his foot. “You know exactly what I meant! We do not have _legal clearance_ for this!” 

“I don't understand what the issue is.” Janus lied. Thomas looked back and forth between the two. Janus, cool as ever, seemed only mildly annoyed that Patton looked ready to tear him a new one. 

“Wait, Patton, it’s not his fault--” 

“Thomas--” Patton stopped himself. He took a breath, brow furrowed, eyes shut, then spoke. “Just… go wait outside.” 

“But--”

“Outside. Now.” He jabbed his finger at the classroom door. Thomas flinched. He pulled himself up and started back towards the door, stealing a final glance back at Janus. His expression was unreadable, but he gave Thomas a small nod. Thomas bit his lip. He took a few steps down the ramp.

“What is wrong with you? Are you trying to get us all fired?” Patton hissed. Thomas’s stomach sank.. He slowed to a stop a little ways down the ramp- out of view of the door, but still close enough to listen. 

“ _I’m_ trying to do my job, which is to train psychics.” Janus spat back. “He can barely use his telekinesis! The kid’s working at a remedial level, and you expect me to send him home with _nothing?”_

“I expect you to listen to me when I tell you not to do something stupid!”

“I do not take orders from you!”

“This isn’t about taking orders! This is about respecting the law! What do you think would happen if he got hurt under our care?!”

“He _wouldn’t_ get hurt if you let me give him a fighting chance!” Janus slammed his hand against something. They were both quiet for a few agonizing moments. "There’s no harm in giving him the basics, Patton. If anything it'll stop him from hurting himself trying to do something stupid." Janus lowered his voice. Patton gave a heavy sigh, his face buried in his hands. “Or from anyone else trying to hurt _him…_ ”

"I know.” Patton rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I’m sorry, Janus. I know you’re… probably right. Believe me, I wanna help him just as much as you do! But that’s just not our choice to make." Patton sighed and shook his head. Thomas’s eyes widened. "What about you then?" Janus raised an eyebrow at him. 

"What about me?" he asked pointedly. 

"Are you still gonna be able to handle your regular class?" Patton’s tone softened. "I can take over for you if you need to rest, and you can pick up with the kids tomorrow.” Janus’s lip curled in disgust. 

“Don’t patronize me, Patton. I know my limits.” he scoffed. 

“I know, I know. You are a highly qualified psychic professional, and I respect that! I just don’t want you to overwork yourself in case--"

“I’m _fine._ ” he snapped. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to finish setting up for _my_ class.” Patton winced. 

“Right… I’ll uh, come check on you later.” Patton murmured. He lingered for a moment, then walked away. It was only his approaching footsteps that reminded Thomas that he was still standing just beyond the door. Panicking, he hopped over the guardrail to the bottom of the ramp and slammed himself on the ground. He pulled his knees up to his chest, trying to look like he’d been sitting there the whole time. Patton’s footsteps paused at the top of the ramp, then slowly made their way closer, stopping when he reached the bottom. Thomas cautiously looked up at him. 

“Um… I’m sorry, Agent Anourez.” he mumbled. A smile broke on Patton’s weary face. 

“It’s okay bud.” Patton sighed. He knelt down beside him and tousled his hair. “I’m sorry for snapping at ya.” Thomas mustered up a hint of a smile, but couldn’t keep it. 

“Is Agent Oboros in trouble?” he asked. Patton’s smile began to fade. 

“I don’t know. Maybe.” Patton muttered. Thomas felt like his heart was going to burst from the guilt. 

“Pat-- er, Agent Anourez. I’m the one who asked Agent Oboros to teach me. He didn’t invite me at all, he tried to talk me out of it, but I--” 

“It’s okay, Thomas!” Patton held up a hand to stop him. “I really can’t be mad at you for this. Honestly, I feel I should have seen it coming… but Janus is a grown-up, and he should know better.” He glanced back up at the classroom. “He was… eager to help you. And that’s good! But sometimes grown-ups get so caught up in their own little ideas that they don’t think about the big picture.” The words ate away his resolution. Patton’s lips pressed into a thin line, and his gaze fell to the dirt. “...did you guys get very far?”

“We got through a couple things.” Thomas shrugged, staring down at his feet. He didn’t want to get Janus in any more trouble than he was already in. “I didn’t get hurt. He said I did a good job.” 

“Yeah?” Patton looked up. “Well I’m… sure he’s very proud of you.” He gave him a strained smile. Thomas got the impression that he was choosing his words very carefully. “Hey, you skipped out on breakfast, didn’t you?” He raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you hungry, bud?” Thomas tensed up. He didn’t want to be the one to bring it up, but since Patton was asking… 

“I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday morning.” he mumbled. Patton gasped. 

“Oh, kiddo, why didn’t you say so?! You must be starving!” Instantly he was back to his old self- loud and full of energy. He hopped to his feet, then gave Thomas a hand up. “Come on, let’s go get some food in you.”

* * *

_Just popping a little note in here to say that if you guys like this AU, I have an[art blog](https://hedgeyart.tumblr.com/) where I've been posting stuff for it. _


	4. Telekinetic Table Manners

Even when all of its campers were in training, the camp was surprisingly lively. Birds twittered away in the treetops, squirrels scampered between the branches and the tin roofs of the camp buildings, and, for Thomas, the grass and wildflowers whispered with the morning breeze. He made mental notes of all the places he’d have to revisit before he left. 

“Thomas, you’re gonna be having lunch for breakfast if you keep stopping every five feet!” Patton called back to him. Thomas had knelt beside a sapling at the side of the trail. 

“Sorry!” He hopped up, jogging over to him. “The trees were calling out to me.” 

“Aww, I’m sure they were, you little tree-hugger!” Patton laughed. “But the trees ain’t going anywhere. You can go chat with ‘em all you want after you eat something.” He held the door open for Thomas. The inside of the dining hall was still a mess from breakfast. Some children had been kind enough to stack their dirty dishes on the counter between the kitchen and dining area, but many had just left them scattered across the tables and benches. Patton sighed and shook his head. 

“Honestly, I think I need to have a talk with some of these kids about table manners…” he muttered. Thomas frowned, looking around at the mess of plates and silverware. It was an awful mess for one person to handle alone… 

“Do you want any help cleaning up?” he offered. 

“Oh, bless your heart.” Patton chuckled with a grateful smile. “it’s okay kiddo, I got this.” With a wave of his hand, he lifted each dirty plate into the air and floated them one by one into the kitchen sink. Thomas watched, mesmerized by the sight. 

“Cool!” He grinned. 

“Glad you think so!” Patton wandered into the kitchen. He turned on the sink and let it fill with hot soapy water. One could assume the dishes were stacking themselves to soak, but the mountain of suds quickly grew so high that they disappeared before they even hit the water. 

“Can I try some?” Thomas asked. Patton’s smile faltered. He glanced up at the stream of plates drifting into the kitchen, then out to the dining hall. 

“I guess just one couldn’t hurt…” Patton conceded. A single plate at the end of the trail stopped and floated back down, landing on the table nearest Thomas. He ran over to and threw out a hand towards it. The plate wobbled a little as it lifted into the air. Janus had made it look so easy. He floated the plate towards the kitchen, agonizingly slow at first, and with a second flick of his hand suddenly much too fast. It flew past Patton’s head and clattered against the wall. Thomas sucked in a breath through his teeth. 

“Sorry!” he squeaked. 

“It’s okay!” Patton hurried over and picked the plate up. “Plastic!” he declared, thrusting it in the air for Thomas to see. “You think you’re the only one who ever tried to float a plate across the room?” he laughed, chucking the plate into the sink with the others. Thomas chuckled along sheepishly. He was just glad Patton wasn’t mad at him… “Now let’s see, I think the other kids ate everything I already made… that’s okay, I can whip up some more. Woulda gotten cold by now anyway.” he muttered to himself, grabbing a pair of plastic gloves from a box by the sink. “You got any allergies, bud?” Thomas thought for a moment. 

“No… but I don’t like carrots.” 

“Hey, who does, right? Vegetables, bleh!” Patton stuck his tongue out, his lips tweaked in a lopsided grin. “How do you feel about scrambled eggs?” 

“I like eggs!” 

“That’s what I like to hear!” Patton threw open the refrigerator. It was stocked with all kinds of food: hot dogs, bread, milk, juice, eggs, bags of oranges, apples, and bananas. Thomas’s stomach growled. Patton paused, grabbed an apple from the refrigerator, and tossed it to him. Given another chance to prove himself Thomas used his telekinesis to grab it out of the air. He dropped it into his hands and took a big bite.

“Good catch.” Patton laughed, “Why don’t you get started with that while I get started on these eggs?” 

“Thanks!” Thomas had to cover his mouth when he spoke to keep the apple from falling out. Sweet, juicy, and perfectly ripe. Wherever these came from, their trees were well cared for. The thought put a smile on his face. Were there such things as psychic farmers? There were apparently psychic camp instructors, so anything was possible. He looked at Patton, pondering the idea. 

“Hey Patton, what’s it like being a psychonaut?” he asked. 

“Why, it’s only the best job in the whole wide world!” Patton grinned back at him, cracking an egg into a pan without looking. “You get to travel all over, stopping crimes and fighting bad guys, and helping people~ And sometimes I get to do fun stuff, like hang out with you guys!” Thomas looked him over. Patton was only about a foot taller than him. Sure, he had strong-looking arms, but with his bouncy brown hair and lopsided smile he looked more like a teddy bear than a psychic warrior. 

“I can’t imagine you fighting anybody. You’re too squishy!” 

“That’s what  _ you  _ think, kiddo!” he giggled, shooting him a playful wink. “Nah, but seriously, I never liked hurting people. I guess you could say I’m more of a  _ Pat _ -cifist!” That made Thomas laugh, but not as much as it did Patton. “Heh… Logan was always better at the combat stuff than me. I’m a lover, not a fighter!” 

“Really? Agent Klein?” That seemed even stranger somehow. Sure, he’d seen Logan do some incredible things in True Psychic Tales, but they were more along the lines of elaborate plans and clever traps. “I guess I can kinda see that… he just seems like such a nerd.” 

“Yeah, but he’s  _ my  _ nerd.” Patton sighed affectionately. “You shoulda seen us back in the seventies. Me and him were a couple of globe-trotting psychic superstars, we were incredible!” 

“Why’d you stop?” 

“Oh, we never stopped! But Logan wanted to focus on his research, and I’ve always wanted to work with kids, so when they started talking about setting up a place out here, we jumped at the chance to settle down together. We still do all that secret agent stuff during the off season though. Heck, sometimes they call us in the middle of camp, which is a little annoying… thankfully we have Janus to keep an eye on you little spoonbenders while we’re gone!” 

“How come Janus doesn’t come with you?” Thomas asked. Patton opened his mouth to speak but hesitated. 

“Ah, well… Janus has a very um, specialized skill set. He’s more of a… support guy, than a field agent.” Patton fumbled his words, his enthusiastic smile fading fast. “Which is fine! He’s still an important and valued member of our team. And you know, I think it's great that they're letting him do this. It's really big for him that he gets to be here, teaching you guys." Thomas’s brow furrowed. Patton’s eyes flicked to the floor, the wall, anywhere but back at Thomas. His lips pressed shut. “...h-hey, you know what? Those eggs smell ready to me. Lemme to plate that up for you!” 

Before Thomas could question him he hurried back to the stove. Thomas frowned. He’d read enough True Psychic Tales to know that Janus could totally be a field agent if he wanted to- though he’d said himself that his story hadn’t been entirely true. Maybe Nico was right about him not being that powerful? Or maybe he and Patton just didn’t like each other. 

“There we go!” 

All thoughts of inter-agent politics were forgotten when Patton slid a hot plate of breakfast in front of him. A huge pile of scrambled eggs- at least three eggs worth, by the looks of it- with an orange cheese slice melted into it filled the plate. Two triangles of toast were tucked into the side, with a little foil-wrapped packet of butter on top. He set a glass of water beside the plate. “Eat up, kiddo!” Thomas grinned and shoveled a large bite into his mouth. It burned his tongue as he chewed, but after a full day of eating nothing it tasted like heaven. 

“Thank you, Agent Anourez!” Thomas hummed, a smile blossoming across his face. 

“Aww, it’s no trouble, bud!” He flashed Thomas a gap-toothed grin. “And hey, since I’ve got you here, this is the perfect time for us to call your parents.” 

Thomas froze mid-bite. Patton was still smiling, but rather than warm sunshine he was beaming nothing but concentrated guilt. Thomas laughed nervously and put his fork down. “Uh… I mean, what’s the rush? They ain’t going anywhere, right…?” Patton stared down at him over his glasses. 

“Come on, you knew it was coming eventually. Your folks gotta be worried sick about you!” Patton folded his arms across his chest. Thomas groaned and sank into his seat. “Aww, now don’t gimme any of that…” Patton sighed. “How about this: I’ll make the call, but I won’t make you talk to them until they ask for you. Deal?” Thomas huffed and stuck out his lower lip. 

“Okay…” he grumbled. Patton took a pen from his pocket and set it on the table. Thomas grabbed a napkin and scratched out his home phone number. Maybe if his handwriting was bad enough, Patton wouldn’t be able to read it? Patton squinted down at his writing, adjusting his glasses. 

“Never seen that area code before.” he muttered to himself. “You from out of state, Thomas?” 

“Yeah, I live in Florida.” Thomas mumbled, absently playing with his food. 

“Wh--  _ Florida _ ?” Patton looked to him as if he said he’d come from the moon. “Thomas, this camp is in  _ Oregon _ , how in the world did you get here from Florida?” 

“Hitchhiked.” he shrugged. “And walked parts of it. But most people are nice enough to stop when they see a kid walking down a country road by himself, so I had a lotta help!” Patton’s eyes went round.

“Oh kiddo, you should  _ never _ get into a car with strangers like that. Anything could have happened to you!” 

“No, it was fine. Usually if they started asking my parents I’d just say something about talking flowers and plants and they’d assume I was some hippie kid and drop me off at the nearest commune. Or like, a gas station or somewhere they could call a policeman to come get me. Kind of a fifty-fifty split.” A grin tugged at his lips. Most adults couldn’t tell real herbaphony from garden variety hippie crap, but watching their reactions was always fun. Patton stared down at the table. He couldn’t hide the utter horror in his expression, but by god was he trying. He took a slow, deep breath before speaking again. 

“Thomas,” he started, “How long have you been gone from home?” Thomas recounted the days in his head. He’d left on a Sunday night, and this was Saturday morning… or was it Friday? He had lost track somewhere around the middle of the week, but he knew he’d spent at least one night with a sweet granny in Texas, and two with that friendly trucker from Colorado… 

“About a week?” 

“We’re calling them right now.” 

Patton snatched the napkin from the table, hurried over to the office that branched off the main hall, and grabbed the phone off its dock. He dialed so frantically that more than once he hit the wrong number and had to put the phone down and start over. Once he had it he took the phone and leaned against the door frame, twirling the cord around his finger as it rang. 

“Hello? Am I speaking to a Mister Sanders? ...perfect! This is Patton Anourez from Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp, I’m calling to tell y--” Patton stopped. His lips sealed into a tight smile, and he set the phone down. “He hung up…” he said quietly. Thomas only sighed, leaning his cheek into his hand. 

“I told you they think it’s a scam…” he mumbled. A touch of sadness seeped into Patton’s expression. Without a word he re-dialed the number and put a fresh smile on his face to lift his spirits. The phone rang for only a few seconds this time. 

“Um, hello? I called just a minute ago. This is Patton Anourez, from-- I completely understand, sir, I’m so sorry-- nonono wait, that’s actually why I’m calling! Y-your son, he’s here! ...yes, your son Thomas!” A wave of relief washed over him. “Yes, he’s perfectly safe. He’s sitting next to me right now, eating breakfast… no, it’s okay! I would’ve done the same thing if it were my son.” Patton laughed, pacing around the doorway as he spoke. “Gosh, I can only imagine! Don’t worry, we’re keeping a  _ very  _ close eye on him… Oh no, we’re-- yes, the one in Oregon. I know, I couldn’t believe it either!… mm-hmm… right… Okay, well let me get you directions from the airport…” 

Patton disappeared into the tiny office, sifting through the mess of papers stacked on and around the desk. Thomas sunk into his seat. He stuffed another bite of egg into his mouth with a dejected groan. The faint buzz of his father’s voice on the other end of the phone rang in his ears. There had to be someone there who would help him learn more psychic stuff. Friendly as he was, there was no way Patton would tell him anything. Maybe he could sneak back to Janus again? But based on the way Patton had spoken to him before, the class he was already doing took a lot out of him. He could always ask one of the other kids like Nico had suggested. Joan and Talyn had experience blowing things up, maybe they could show him a thing or two? But there was more to being a psychic than just destroying things- besides, if he tried to do that at home, his parents would kill him. 

“You got all of that?” Patton’s cheery voice came from the doorway. Thomas would never understand how adults managed to have so much fun talking about nothing. “Okay, perfect… oh no, it was no trouble! I’m just glad I was able to reach you.” he laughed, glancing over at Thomas. He raised his eyebrows at something his father said. “Uh, he’s actually still right here if you wanted to--” Patton stopped short, his mouth propped open by the words he’d meant to say. Slowly he sealed it shut as they died on his lips. 

“He hung up again?” Thomas muttered. Patton sighed and shook his head. 

“I just… assumed they’d want to talk to you themselves.” he murmured. Thomas shrugged.

“He probably got himself all worked into a tizzy.” he sighed, resting his chin in his hands. He was sure his mother would give him a stern talking to for forgetting to actually confirm that their son was alive and well, but he wasn’t about to call them back now. He wasn’t ready to be yelled at yet. At a loss for words Patton shrugged, setting the phone back in its dock. 

“Well, your mom and pop are gonna catch the next flight to Oregon and come get you, so don’t get too comfortable.” He muttered, walking back to the table. It was only then that he noticed they had a visitor. “What’s up, Nico?”

Thomas’s head snapped up. Sure enough, Nico was standing in the doorway. He wore a red track jacket with a satchel over one shoulder and Thomas’s own backpack on the other. He walked over and plunked down on the bench beside him, sideways and cross-legged, and slid the backpack onto the table. 

“Janus said since I’ve passed basic training like a million times, I could come keep Thomas company instead.” He shrugged easily, as if being good enough to skip out on training on a whim didn’t make him look like a full-fledged psychic master in Thomas’s eyes. “Also I brought his jacket and stuff.” He nodded to the backpack. Patton smiled at him. 

“Well, aren’t you sweet?” He clapped Nico on the shoulder. “You know, I bet our pal Thomas here would have a lot more fun hanging out with you than he would being my baby duck all day. Maybe you should show him some fun non-psychic activities while I’m setting up my afternoon class?” he suggested, looking between the boys with a sunny grin. “We have stuff for friendship bracelets in the arts and crafts closet!” 

“Sure thing, Pat.” Nico glanced over at Thomas, whose excitement was rapidly deflating. 

“Super! Thanks a million, kiddo!” Patton tousled his hair on his way out. Thomas watched until he was out of earshot, then turned to Nico. 

“So… friendship bracelets?” he asked, not bothering to hide his disappointment. 

“We could do that.” Nico muttered, his gaze drifting out the window. “I was thinking more along the lines of like, literally anything else.” A quirk of a smile touched his lips. He glanced over at Thomas through the side of his glasses. “You wanna go up to the bluffs and look for arrowheads?” 

“Okay!” Thomas perked up. Nico slid off the bench. Thomas started to follow but stopped himself. “Oh, wait a minute!” He took his plate and glass and threw them towards the kitchen, using his telekinesis to try and push them in the right direction. By some miracle he managed to land the plate in the sink, but the cup smacked into the wall and bounced off. Thomas forced a laugh and quietly went to pick it up. “So, uh… telekinesis?” he mumbled, staring down at the floor as he walked back to him. 

“Yeah, I figured.” Nico muttered. “But hey, fifty percent ain’t bad, right?” 

“Haha, yeah…” Thomas rubbed the back of his neck. Nico started towards the door, gesturing for him to follow, and he did. As bad as that little display had been, he was just grateful it had shattered neither his glass nor his rapport with Nico. 


	5. Oops! All Exposition

For a while they walked in silence, following the trail from the main hall past the beach. Gravel crunched beneath their feet with every step. Normally he didn’t notice little sounds like that, but as it was Thomas found himself with little else to think about as he followed behind Nico, staring at the back of his shoes as they walked. Nico had been quiet since they left the dining hall. 

“So, um… thanks for bringing me my jacket and stuff.” Thomas started, watching for a response. Nico hummed his acknowledgement, his gaze wandering up the trees. 

“Yeah, I knew you’d want to have them with you.” he mumbled. 

“Oh, really? Does it get cold up on the bluffs?” 

“No.” Nico shrugged. Thomas waited for an explanation, but when none came he decided to just let it go. His eyes wandering around the forest, through the wildflowers and up the trees, and back to Nico himself. Would Nico want to hear what the plants were saying about him? No, definitely not. The last thing he wanted to do was weird him out with plant talk. Maybe a compliment then? People liked compliments, right? Nico gave him no shortage of things to comment on: his big square glasses, his satchel covered in novelty buttons, his fluffy hair, his deep cocoa-colored eyes… 

“I like your buttons!” he blurted out. Now that he had committed to that course of action, he had to actually look at them: there were a few anti-war pins, peace signs and pumping fists; a few bands he didn’t know by name but recognized as being too mature for him to listen to; an Orange Bird pin, which as a fellow Disney lover he could absolutely appreciate; and an odd set of matching ones off to the side. Diamond shaped with smooth corners that, when placed together, formed a larger diamond. Each was branded with a different icon, none of which he recognized. “Uh, what are all those matching ones?” He pointed. Nico glanced down at them. 

“Camp merit badges.” He said. “They hand ‘em out when you finish psychic training courses, but I already have all of them… oh, that reminds me! Janus asked me to bring you this.” Nico stopped suddenly. He fished into his satchel and produced a small green badge with an image of a brain embossed on it. “It’s your basic training badge. He said you forgot it on your way out.” He flicked it into the air, using his telekinesis to land it in Thomas’s waiting hands. 

“I get a badge?” Thomas murmured, gazing down at it. 

“Apparently. Janus said you passed with flying colors.” Nico chuckled, amused by his reverence of the tiny piece of metal. Thomas swung his backpack around to his front and affixed his badge to the front, wiggling the clasp to check that it was securely fastened. “Did you actually sneak out to do secret training this morning?” 

“Hey, it was your idea! How else was I gonna get trained?” he snapped back. Nico only laughed and shook his head. 

“You’re crazy, kid…” he muttered. Thomas huffed playfully at him, then frowned. 

“Wait, how am I the kid if we’re the same age?” he asked. 

“How old are you?”

“Ten.”

“Ten and three-quarters.”

Thomas gasped softly, and ceased to argue. Nico waggled his eyebrows at him, then turned and continued down the path.

“Come on dorkus, we’re almost there.” he called over his shoulder, stepping off the trail and through the bushes. Thomas trotted after him, mumbling a “pardon me” to any branch he was clumsy enough to trample. Nico led him up a hill and through the trees until they reached a clear spot that looked out onto the lake. 

The bluffs were only about twenty feet up from the water. Scraggly bushes and tree roots grew between the rocks that made up the craggy shore. When Thomas peered over the edge he could see frogs hopping around on the submerged rocks. He could also see Patton setting up his class on the beach, and ducked behind a bush before he had a chance to spot him. 

“I’m surprised they hold class so close to the water.” Thomas muttered. “You’d think they’d be more worried with the lake monster and all.” 

“You know there isn’t actually a lake monster, right?” 

Thomas turned. Nico was staring him right at him, eyebrows raised. 

“Er, y-yeah, of course!” Thomas forced out a laugh that he hoped to god was convincing. “I was totally joking. Couldn’t you tell?” He playfully punched Nico in the arm. Nico looked unimpressed, but didn’t seem to hold it against him. Thomas gulped. “So, why come all the way up here to look for arrowheads?” 

“Well, we’re not actually allowed to be up here. But that’s what makes it a good place to look. The easy ones have already been taken everywhere else.” Nico glanced around, then smirked. “Hey, you can like, talk to plants, right? Maybe they could tell you where the arrowheads are.” 

“Uh… sure, I can try!” 

Thomas glanced around the bluff. The scrappy-looking fern jutting out from under the nearest rock looked inviting enough. He planted his bare hand in the dirt beside it. After properly greeting xem and introducing himself, he asked if xe knew if there were any arrowheads nearby. Xe was amused that a child would address them so directly, and pointed him to a patch of soil right in front of Nico. Thomas thanked xem, smiled, and plunged his fist into the dirt. Nico jumped back. 

“Dude!” 

“Sorry!” Thomas leaned away, flashing an apologetic smile. “I uh, forgot you couldn’t hear that…” he tittered nervously. His fingers found something hard in the dirt, and when he pulled it out he had a handful of pointy shards of glistening purple stone. 

“Whoa.” Nico moved in closer to see. “You got like five in one go!” 

“Yeah! The plants told me where they were.” He grinned and held them out to Nico. “You can have them if you want.” 

“No way, they’re yours!” Nico pushed the handful of arrowheads back to him. Thomas frowned. 

“Really? I got so many…” 

“Finders keepers, Thomas.” said Nico. “Besides, I’ve got like twenty of these things in my bag. They’re pretty common around here.” 

“Oh.” Thomas retracted his hand, a little embarrassed. He slid them into his backpack, but stopped at the last one, holding it in his palm. The sunlight went right through it, highlighting the tiny fracture lines where the earth had cracked while forming the stone. There was a faint hum of energy within it. Not life, like what he felt in the plants, but something else deep and powerful. 

“I’ve never seen an arrowhead like this before…” he murmured, holding it up to the light. “Is this some kind of glass?” 

“No, psitanium.” Nico scootched closer to him, peering at the arrowhead in his hand. “It’s this weird psychoactive mineral? It’s actually really rare, but there’s a ton of it all over the valley here so they--” Nico cut himself short. Thomas was staring right at him. His eyes dodged the other way and he cleared his throat. “Er, actually it’s kind of a long story. You probably wouldn’t care.” 

“What?! Yes I would, tell me!” Thomas sat forward. Nico hesitated, shifting into a more comfortable position. 

“Basically they’re like, made out of psychic space rocks.” Nico glanced down at the one in Thomas’s hand. “The stuff’s all over the valley. The natives that used to live here used to carve it into arrowheads, but Logan uses a lot of psitanium for his research, so Pat hands out prizes if you collect a bunch of them.” 

“You think they’d mind if I kept mine?” Thomas asked, lowering his voice. 

“I mean, how’re they gonna know?” Nico muttered. Thomas smiled, tucking the last arrowhead gently into his backpack. 

“I’m surprised they didn’t just dig them all up before they built the camp.” he added. 

“Well, technically nobody was allowed to be here before they decided to build the camp. They thought it was too dangerous… and I mean, it is? But not for us, only for non-psychics.”

“What do you mean?” asked Thomas. 

“It’s like… come here.” Nico pulled himself to his knees and climbed over to the side of the bluff, gesturing out towards the water. “See where the lake is, there used to be this whole gold mining town, but everyone who lived there went crazy from psitanium exposure. Eventually the government had to pay everybody to leave and flood the place out to keep people from living here anymore.” 

“Whoa…” Thomas looked out at the lake. He couldn’t see any buildings in the water, though it was only clear enough to see through for a few feet below the surface. He squinted into the distance. Out in the middle of the lake, he could just make out what looked like a stone tower breaching the waves. “That must be one of the buildings out there.” He pointed, and Nico looked. 

“That’s the tower of the old insane asylum.” he said. “Supposedly by the time they moved everybody out there were more people locked up in there than there were living in the town. But I heard some of them never left…” 

“No!” Thomas gasped, covering his hands with his mouth. “You mean it’s like…  _ haunted? _ ” he whispered. 

“Maybe.” Nico smirked. He shot a glance at the tower and lowered his voice. “Sometimes at night you can see lights flickering in the windows…” Thomas looked out towards the tower again. Moss grew along the walls where the water’s edge licked the stone. A few tiny windows ran up its sides. He wanted to say they were arched, but from this far away he couldn’t really make out their shape. Thomas’s eyes narrowed. 

“Have you actually  _ seen _ lights in the windows, or just heard about it?”

“No, I’ve totally seen it.” Nico insisted, though his mischievous grin betrayed him. “Sometimes you can see figures moving around inside. Those are the ghosts.” Thomas frowned. 

“Okay…” He muttered. “How about we meet up tonight and you show me?”

“Er… well, you can’t see them  _ every _ night. Only sometimes.” Nico sputtered. 

“If there are ghosts out there, I wanna see them.” Thomas crossed his arms and stuck up his chin. Nico started to argue, but ultimately gave in. 

“Alright, fine.” he sighed. “If you’re still here tonight, meet me up here before lights out and I’ll show you.” 

“Deal!” Thomas smirked. Now he either had an excuse to spend some more time with Nico, or he got to see some spooky ghosts. Either way it was a win for him. Nico scooted back from the edge of the bluff.

“Hey, you know what?” Nico reached for his satchel. “I have a camera in my bag. We should take a picture together, while we’re up here.” He pulled out a boxy white polaroid camera. It had a rainbow stripe running down the front and up the side, and a plastic flap over the lens. “Come here, sit right there… a little closer…” 

The camera clicked, and spat out a little square of paper. Nico plucked it out, “You spell your name with an H?” he asked. 

“I spell my name with a T… oh! Yeah, T-H.” Thomas replied. Nico took a pen from his bag and wrote his and Thomas’s names on the bottom of the photograph. “What are you gonna do with it?” 

“I keep a scrapbook of all the important stuff that happens at camp. Mom says it’s a good way to help practice my powers.” he shrugged, waving the photo to make it develop faster. Thomas watched the fuzzy image begin to appear. 

“Never used an instant camera before…” he mumbled. “How long does it usually take?” 

“Well, it takes a while for it to actually  _ finish _ developing,” said Nico, “but it only takes a few minutes for you to be able to see the picture. You just gotta wait for it to… um…” he trailed off, squinting down at the photo. His face fell. 

“What’s wrong?” Thomas asked. 

“Uh, nothing!” 

“Let me see!” Thomas snatched the photo out of his hands, scrutinizing every inch of the tiny image- not that there was much to scrutinize at this point. As far as he could tell they were both in frame, facing the light, smiling with eyes open. “It looks fine to me…” he mumbled.

“It is, it’s just… never mind.” Nico sighed, frowning down at the photograph. He stuffed the camera back into his bag and started to reach for the photo, but stopped. “...you know what, why don’t you keep that?” Nico withdrew his hand, putting on a small smile for Thomas. “Think of it as a uh, token of our friendship.” 

“Really? Thanks!” Thomas grinned at him, holding it to his heart. “Nico, you’re the best friend I’ve ever had!” Nico’s brow furrowed. 

“Dude, you’ve only known me for like a day.” 

“Oh, yeah…” Thomas frowned. “Well, you’re the best  _ human  _ friend I’ve ever had, so I’m glad I got to meet you.” Nico was quiet for a moment. For some reason he looked a little sad, but he smiled all the same. 

“...I’m glad I met you too, Thomas.” he finally said. Thomas pulled up his own backpack, gently tucking it into a side pocket so it would stay nice. He’d have to find a spot to put it once he got home, somewhere his parents wouldn’t see. Even if they were always encouraging him to make new friends, he doubted they’d approve of him associating with other psychics, even ones his own age. He wondered if he’d ever see Nico again after he left the camp…

A muffled curse from the trees behind them drew him out of his dreary thoughts. Logan was climbing up the hill, hauling a long black bag on his shoulder. He picked pine needles out of his hair. “Stupid low-hanging branches…” he grumbled.

“You’re the only one tall enough to reach ‘em. Maybe you should cut them back.” Nico called. Logan looked at them, startled. 

“What are you boys doing up here?” he asked. 

“Janus said I could cut class to give him a tour of the campground.” Nico replied. 

“The bluffs are not part of the campground.” said Logan, glancing over at Thomas.. “And seeing how this young man is going to be leaving soon, I don’t believe knowing the layout of our camp would be of any use to him.” 

“Jeez Logan, what else is he supposed to do all day?” Nico muttered. Logan scowled, pushing his glasses up. 

“As long as camp is in session you will address me as Agent Klein, mister Flores.” he said pointedly. Nico rolled his eyes. “And if Thomas is in need of something to keep him busy until his parents arrive, he could always help me with my research…” Thomas perked up at that. 

“Really?” he asked. “Would Agent Anourez be okay with that…?” 

“Unlikely. We don’t have permission from your parents for any psychic activities. However these tests are already unauthorized, so technically it’s no more illicit than your impromptu training session with Agent Oboros this morning.” he replied flatly. Thomas tensed up. 

“You heard about that, huh?” he mumbled. 

“Of course, we’re psychics. We tell each other everything.” said Logan, as if even asking such a thing were absurd and not clearly rhetorical. He decided not to comment on it. As much as he wanted to spend more time with Nico, getting a front seat on real psychic research was a tempting prospect.

“What’s your research on?” he asked. 

“The nature of psychic communication between human and non-human subjects.” said Logan. “Normally I would enlist the help of Agent Oboros, but obviously now that camp is in session he can only do so much… however, given your aptitude for herbaphonic communication, I believe you would serve as an acceptable substitute, Thomas.” Thomas stared up at him, eyes wide and hands shaking with excitement. 

“I can do that!” Thomas leapt to his feet. Then he stopped and looked to Nico. He felt a little bad abandoning his new friend so suddenly. “Er, do you mind if I…?” 

“Go ahead.” Nico shrugged, half-smiling up at him. “If Pat asks, I’ll tell him you were delivering arrowheads to Logan.” 

“ _ Thank you!! _ ” Thomas squealed. He threw his arms around Nico, gave him the quickest, squeeziest hug he’d ever given, and then ran to meet Logan. 


	6. Psychic Isolation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy everyone. Sorry for disappearing for like a month. Please accept this extremely long chapter as my apology. I'm back in school now, but on top of that I want to take some time to better develop the minds of the other characters Thomas will be visiting later in the story, so updates are gonna slow down for a bit. In the meantime I'm gonna have character sheets for everyone we've met so far going up on my art blog (@hedgeyart on tumblr), and I'll try to post some more art for this AU there too. 
> 
> Also there are gonna be some trigger warnings for this chapter. I'll put a TLDR at the end, so if any of these are a no for you you'll at least know what you missed: 
> 
> > Panic attacks  
> > Mention of triggers, trauma, and mental instability  
> > Drowning  
> > Hyperventilating/suffocation  
> > Underwater caves

“Sooo, Agent Klein… do you like being a psychonaut?” 

“Yes.” 

“Have you been doing it for a long time?” 

“Yes.”

“Have you always worked with Agent Anourez?” 

“No.” 

“Is he fun to have as a partner?”

“………yes.” 

“Yeah, he seems nice. Is it true you guys used to travel all over the world? Agent Anourez says you’re really good at combat stuff, could you teach me? I saw the story about you in True Psychic Tales where you stopped those psychic terrorists from blowing up a children’s hospital. Are you really that cool? Is it fun being a psychonaut? Do you have your own psycho-portal? Can I see it?” 

Logan stopped short in front of him. Thomas cautiously looked up at him. Even when he was in a good mood Agent Klein’s sharp features were perpetually set in a serious expression, and at a little over six feet tall he towered over Thomas. However, it was only now that those icy black eyes were glaring down at him from under his glasses that Thomas felt truly small beside him. He flashed him a nervous little smile. Logan only rolled his eyes and let out a long, annoyed sigh. 

“Patton and I traveled around the world on Psychonaut business for several years before coming to work here; I was the most advanced psychic sharpshooter in my training unit, but I would hardly consider it my specialty; the stories in True Psychic Tales are nothing but psychic propaganda and should not be taken at face value; this job has been the most enjoyable twelve years of my life; and yes, I do.” He answered in a single breath. Before Thomas had a chance to ask any more questions he took his own psycho-portal from his pocket and held it out to him. 

“Oooh…” Thomas took it in his hands. Logan’s door was printed with funny little blocks of color, blue and gray and black that made the white Psychonaut insignia in the middle pop. Oddly enough it was the same size and shape as Janus’s door, Did the psychonauts have some sort of machine that churned these things out? “I like the pattern.” he added. It looked like something out of a comic book! 

“Yes, so do I.” Logan muttered. Thomas placed the portal back in his hand and watched it disappear into his pocket. “I keep it with me at all times in case of psychic emergencies. We won’t be needing it for today though.” He added. “I’m not sure how much time we’ll have together, but I’d like to start with a preliminary interview before we get into any of the more invasive procedures.” Thomas nodded along. He’d never been interviewed about anything before. He hoped it didn’t require formal dress. 

They came to a small bridge over a creek, which someone had blocked off with bright yellow caution tape. The area was littered with signs in the ground that read things like “KEEP OUT,” “DANGER,” and “RESTRICTED AREA: NO UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS.”

“It’s right through here.” Logan lifted the tape so Thomas could walk under it. Thomas, confused but trusting that the psychonaut knew what he was doing, did so. 

“There sure is a lot of stuff off-limits in this place…” he muttered. 

“This place was a research facility before it was a summer camp, so there are still a lot of things here that are unsafe for children… like those.” 

Thomas looked where he was pointing. A tall chain link fence separated them from a circle of strange half-dome-shaped pods. Each was the size of a car, suspended on narrow metal stalks some ten feet above the ground with gridded walkways leading up to each. They might have been impressive in the past, but now their steel plated shells were caked in dirt and rust. “They look like big mushrooms!” he snickered. 

“These are Geodesic Psychoisolation Chambers.” Logan stepped up the nearest ramp. “There’s a monitoring station underneath the central chamber that I’ve converted into a research lab. That’s where we’re going.” 

He pulled open a hatch on the central chamber. The inside was padded with a plasticy red material that groaned when touched. Logan crawled inside. The entrance was so small that even Thomas had to duck his head to climb in. 

“Not the most convenient location…” he muttered. 

“Yes, well, it had to be somewhere a child couldn’t just stumble into.” Logan grumbled, kneeling down. “Would you mind closing that door behind you?” 

“Oh, sure!” Thomas hopped up and grabbed the handle, pulling it down so it sealed shut behind them. 

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“I don’t like this.” 

Thomas pressed his hands against his temples. The ambient whisper of grass and leaves vanished the moment the door closed. Blood throbbed in his ears. His throat shuddered and wheezed with every breath he sucked into his lungs. He tried to slow his breath to dull the sound, but it only made him hyper aware of his own breathing. His blood, his body, it was all too loud. The screech of metal on metal flooded his senses, and he slammed his hands over his ears. Logan had opened a hatch in the middle of the room. It crashed to a stop against its own hinges. 

“Thomas?” Logan’s voice was muffled, but still too loud. Thomas blinked up at him. Logan was watching him, his stoic features tinged with concern. “ **_Thomas, what’s wrong?”_ ** Now his voice rang clear as if it were coming from within his own skull- and seeing how Logan’s lips were no longer moving, Thomas realized it was. 

“Agent Klein, I don’t want to be in here.” His own voice rumbled his ears, dulled by the sound of thumping blood. 

**_“It’s alright Thomas. We just have to pass through to get to my lab. It’s right down here.”_ **

“No. I-I want to go back outside, it’s too quiet in here.” 

**_“Too quiet?”_ **

“Too quiet, and you’re too loud. Everything is too loud, I can’t-- something’s wrong!” He peeled one of his hands away from his ears, grasping at the heavy door handle. When had his hands begun to shake? When had his breathing become so heavy that his body tremored with every panicked movement?

“Thomas, wait a minute.” Logan was beside him now. Thomas hadn’t seen him move. He only felt the hand on his shoulder. “This is just a side effect of the psychoisolation chamber. Take a deep breath and-- Thomas, look at me.” Thomas pushed his hand away. He didn’t need a deep breath, he needed to get out of there.  _ “Thomas!”  _

* * *

Thomas woke with a start. When had he fallen asleep? The last thing he remembered was following Agent Klein into the psycho-whatsit-chambers, and then… well, it all got a bit fuzzy after that. He groaned, blinking into unfamiliar surroundings. He was in a square room with high concrete walls, and a narrow staircase that spiraled all the way to the ceiling. A large, flickering machine hung in the middle of the room- or rather, hung in the middle of the room. It was suspended by a large mechanical arm, wrapped with various tubes and pipes that ran up through the ceiling. It looked like a cross between an evil death ray and one of the x-ray machines from the dentist’s office, complete with a large glowing piece at the end closest to him. He scooted back from it as he sat up. 

As he felt around he realized he was curled up in a black leather office chair, his head resting on a clean white desk. Tidy stacks of documents covered most of its surface, although it looked like they’d been shoved aside in a hurry. Logan’s psycho-portal lay beside him, as well as a well-worn tape recorder and a spherical terrarium that sat pressed against his forehead. The tiny sundew nestled within fretted softly, and he was quick to assure xem that he was alive and well. 

“Thomas?” Logan’s voice, mercifully quiet, drew his attention. He stood at the other end of the desk, holding a clipboard in one hand and clicking a pen in the other. “Looks like the effects of the isolation chamber have passed. That’s good…” he said, more to himself than to Thomas. “How are you feeling?” 

“Uh… dizzy?” Thomas mumbled, rubbing his eyes. Logan nodded, jotting something down on his clipboard. “What happened?” 

“You fainted.” The sharpness in his tone made Thomas wince. “Can you describe what you were feeling before you lost consciousness?” Logan asked. Thomas thought for a moment. 

“I couldn’t hear anything outside… I could hear my heartbeat and breathing, but it was too loud. Like, all of the sounds and feelings were too strong.” The memory of it made him shudder. 

“Interesting…” Logan murmured, his brow creased. He took the tape recorder from his desk and slid a fresh tape inside, pressing down the bright red button. “If you’re feeling up for it, I’d like to ask you a few questions about the experience… do you mind if I tape this session?” 

“Fine with me.” said Thomas. Logan nodded and set the recorder down on his desk. 

“Allow me to recount the past few minutes for the benefit of my records.” said Logan. “You, Thomas…” 

“…Sanders.” 

“Thank you.” Logan cleared his throat. “You, Thomas Sanders, unwittingly wandered into the Geodesic Psychoisolation Chamber located on the outskirts of Camp Whispering Rock. When the chamber sealed and you were cut off from your psychic senses you exhibited an extreme negative reaction which, at the time, you described as being “too quiet.” Can you elaborate on that?” 

“I mean, it’s like you said. I couldn’t use my powers, so I couldn’t hear anything.” Thomas shrugged. His eyes sank to his shoes. “I mean, I could hear  _ you _ , but I couldn’t hear outside anymore.” 

“I see… I’ve worked with other subjects who possess enhanced extrasensory perception, but I’ve never seen a reaction like this before.” Logan glanced at his clipboard, flipping through a few pages of notes. Thomas craned his neck, but couldn’t make out what was written on them. “You mentioned before that you haven’t had a chance to train your psychic abilities, but your herbaphonic senses are unusually developed. It’s possible your connection to the natural world is so ingrained into your state of being that getting cut off so suddenly caused an adverse psychological reaction.” 

“Uh-huh…” Thomas nodded slowly, staring back at Logan. He had thought the dizziness was wearing off, but Logan’s words stirred around in his brain like ice in a blender. Logan sighed and rolled his eyes. 

“You had a panic attack because you couldn’t hear the plants anymore.” 

“Oh.” Thomas frowned, shrinking back in his seat. He still didn’t know what that meant, but it sounded embarrassing. “Sorry…”

“It’s not your fault. Just remind me to open the door for you before you leave, and uh…” Logan paused. He placed his finger over the microphone on the tape recorder and leaned in, lowering his voice. “Don’t tell Agent Anourez about this. We aren’t actually allowed to put students in the isolation chambers, so if anything happened to you while you were in there I’d probably lose my job.” Thomas’s eyes widened. 

“Got it. I’ll try not to faint again!” he whispered.

“I would appreciate that.” Logan gave him a curt nod and stepped away, removing his hand from the recorder. “Circling back to your powers: what does herbaphony typically sound like for you?” 

“Oh! You know, it’s just like, all the trees and grass and flowers…?” Thomas gestured at the air around them. Logan stared back blankly. To be fair, an underground lab didn’t provide the best example. Other than the terrarium, he could just barely make out the hum of tree roots beyond the concrete walls. “Or I guess you don’t…” 

“No. As I said, herbaphony is exceptionally rare… Do you hear them constantly?” 

“Kind of. I can’t really understand them unless I’m actually trying to, but I can always hear them. It’s kinda like listening to a crowd of people? But when I’m not talking to them I can still hear them.” 

“Interesting. Almost like white noise… does this affect your normal range of hearing?” 

“I mean, I can hear fine? But it’s still hard to listen to two people at once- or a person and a plant at once, when they’re talking over each other. Like, I  _ can _ talk to both at the same time, but it’s tricky. I always get all turned around.” he shrugged. Logan wrote, scratched something out, and wrote something else in its place. Thomas pulled his knees up to his chest, resting his chin on his crossed arms. “Is this still part of the research?” he asked. 

“It is now.” said Logan. “Always keep thorough records, Thomas. You never know what’s going to be important later.” Thomas nodded along as he spoke. 

“That makes sense. It’s just that my normal doctors never want to talk about stuff like this.” A smile touched Thomas’s lips. It was nice to talk to someone who cared for a change. 

“Well, your average pediatrician isn’t trained to deal with psychic activity.” Logan chuckled. 

“Nah, I mean like the shrinks.” Thomas grumbled. “They never listen to me! They just tell me I’m “very imaginative” or “being silly” and then turn around and tell my parents I’m acting out for attention or something.” he huffed. Logan perked up at that. 

“Do you see a therapist regularly?” he asked. He flipped to a new page, pen at the ready. 

“Not anymore. I’ve seen both of the therapists in my town, and the ones in every town nearby.” Thomas stared down at his shoes. “Most of them think I’m either stupid or crazy.” Logan frowned. 

“Yes, they certainly don’t make our job easy…” he mumbled. “Did they recommend any… specific treatments?” 

“I dunno, not really… the last one I went to talked a lot about some kind of surgery? He gave my mom a bunch of pamphlets, but she never let me look at them and we never went back, so I don’t know what he was hawking.” Thomas muttered. Logan nodded slowly, watching him the whole time he spoke. 

“I see… I’m making a note of that for Agent Anourez. I think he’ll want to bring it up with your parents later.” he mumbled. Thomas’s shoulders tensed up. 

“Am I in trouble?” he asked quietly. 

“No, no. If anything, I think he can make that work in your favor.” Logan glanced over what he’d written, then set the clipboard down. “Do you happen to know what part of your brain herbaphony uses?” Thomas frowned. He thought back to when Janus had asked him to try and find the part of his mind where his powers lived. He could feel it, sure, but he couldn’t put a name to it. 

“Somewhere in the middle…?” he tried. Logan’s eyes narrowed, searching his face for who knows what. Thomas shrank back in his seat. “Uh, I-I don’t really know much about brains.” he added. When Logan’s eyes finally met his, his expression relaxed. 

“Well, you are a child. I suppose I should have expected as much.” he muttered. “Perhaps it would be more helpful if you could point it out to me directly.” 

“Like on a diagram?” Thomas asked. “Or are you gonna go inside my head?” 

“Section 3, Paragraph 1 of the Young Minds Protection Act prohibits the use of invasive psychic procedure on anyone under the age of eighteen.” Logan recited in a practiced monotone, as if he’d given the same answer a hundred times before. “So no, i couldn’t enter your mind even if I wanted to. Thankfully, it doesn’t contain anything that prevents you from entering your own mind.” Thomas’s eyes widened. 

“I can do that?!” he gasped, sitting straight up. He snatched the psycho-portal off of Logan’s desk, inspecting each side. “Do I just put the little door on my own head, or…?” Logan plucked the portal out of his hands.

“Be careful with that, it’s not a toy.” he snapped, shooting Thomas a dirty look. “Besides, that wouldn’t do you any good. For an untrained mind like yours, we’re going to need something much more powerful.” Logan looked over his shoulder. Thomas followed his gaze to the large machine that loomed over them from the center of the room. 

“We’re gonna use… that thing?” he asked. 

“That thing,” Logan started, walking towards it, “is called a Brain Tumbler.” There was a console at its side covered in buttons and dials, and as Logan pressed them the machine hummed to life. “It’s a high-powered psychic apparatus that will allow you to enter your own mind.” 

“Whoa…” Thomas breathed. The glowing piece at the end pulsed with acrid blue light. Already he could feel its psychic pull reaching out to him. “And it’s safe…?” 

“When used as intended, it is technically incapable of killing you. I wouldn’t be allowed to keep it on the premises if that were a concern.” 

“Man, the psychonauts run a really tight ship…” Thomas said under his breath. 

“No, they don’t monitor my work that closely. But if Patton thought there was anything in here that could hurt children, he’d make me get rid of it.” Logan rolled his eyes. “Roll over here, will you?”

“Roll?” Thomas looked over the side of the chair. He hadn’t noticed before that he was in a chair with wheels. He turned to face Logan’s desk and pushed off with his feet, giggling as he rolled across the floor- at least until he came to an abrupt stop. 

“Please aim yourself  _ away _ from the machine if you’re going to do that.” Logan glared at him, not bothering to remove his hands from the control panel. Thomas sincerely hoped it was Logan’s telekinesis that had stopped him and not the Brain Tumbler- which, to his relief, was confirmed to be the case as an unseen force hauled him around to the business end of the machine. 

“So, how does it work?” he asked, turning around in his seat to watch Logan. 

“You’ve already been into Agent Oboros’s mind, correct?” he asked. “It’s the same principle. You’ll use astral projection to enter your mind the same way you would anyone else’s. You should be able to jump in as soon as I finish calibrating the Brain Tumbler…” 

“Wait, we’re doing it right now?” Thomas sputtered. He had hoped for a little more time to prepare himself before having to deal with whatever that thing was capable of. 

“It would be very helpful to my research if we did. Did you have other plans for the afternoon?” Logan asked pointedly, raising an eyebrow at him. 

“Er, no, it’s fine!” he replied hurriedly, his gaze drifting up to the machine. Now that he sat in front of it, the cylindrical body of the machine with its roiling tubes and shafts resembled a large metal eye leering down at him. Thomas hid his face behind the back of his chair. “Is it gonna hurt…?” he asked quietly. The annoyance faded from Logan’s expression. 

“No, it shouldn’t hurt at all.” he sighed. “Like I said, it can’t hurt you when it’s working properly so you should be fine. Unless something really very bad happens.”

“Okay… what?” 

“I said you’ll be fine.” Logan said. “Now sit still, the machine is just about ready…” Thomas sunk into the chair and squeezed his eyes shut. The Brain Tumbler’s psychic pull was much stronger than Janus’s. It sucked him in like the inescapable current of a rushing river. He took a deep breath and let it pull him in, trying to relax into it. After all, it’s not like he would need an escape from his own mind, right? 

* * *

The world around him became cool and airy. Thomas blinked a few times, watching as it came into focus. Rings of stone ran up the high walls that surrounded him, branching into divots and caverns in every direction he could see. The closest one was directly in front of him, forming a tunnel that stretched into inscrutable darkness. Sunlight shone somewhere overhead, streaming mottled green through the shadowy forms of algae and lily pads. He took a few steps forward. His movements were slow and floaty, as if he were trying to walk in a swimming pool. “Weird…” he murmured. 

**_“What is it?”_ **

Thomas jumped. He hadn’t realized Logan could hear him. “Uh, I’m in some sort of cave, or tunnel? But the top is open. I think I’m underwater.” 

**_“What? Are you alright, can you still breathe?”_ ** Logan asked. The panic in his voice caught Thomas off guard. 

“Yeah?” Though now that he thought about it, it was odd that he could breathe underwater. He took a deep breath, sucking in what felt like normal air, then blew out through his mouth. A stream of bubbles rolled from his lips. He watched them drift upwards and slowly disappear. “Looks like I can breathe fine. I mean, it’s not like I’m gonna drown in my own mind, right?” 

**_“Hmm… alright, if you’re sure. Just let me know if you need me to pull you out.”_ **

“Will do.” Thomas walked out into the tunnel, using his hands to pull himself through the water. The walls of the little grotto he found himself in were rough and slicked with moss and algae and water weeds that swayed with the current. Thomas pulled himself to the nearest cluster of plants. He could hear them humming with life, but no matter how he tried he couldn’t seem to get through to them. “Huh… I woulda thought the plants in my mind would be more talkative.” 

**_“Perhaps it’s because they’re figments of your imagination? Trying to speak to them would be like trying to read your own mind.”_ **

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense.” Thomas frowned. He didn’t know much about underwater plants anyways. Sure, they were friendly enough, but as a land-dweller their experience was largely alien to him. “Maybe my mind is trying to tell me to make nice with the pondweed back home…” he muttered to himself. He searched the wall for a moss-free spot to plant his feet, then pushed off. Even if this wasn’t real water, swimming seemed like the easiest way to traverse it. 

Before he could get any further, something zipped past his head. Thomas reeled back, unable to move out of its way with the water slowing him down. The creature stopped in front of his face. Its long yellow body rolled softly with the current. Coral-colored eyes stared back at him from the other end of its boxy snout- which was just about pressed against his nose. Thomas held perfectly still. The creature sat watching him, unmoving. After a few seconds of silence Thomas slowly held a hand out to it. “Hi there…” he murmured. 

**_“Did you find something?”_ **

“Yeah, it’s like an eel or something?” 

**_“Hmm. An unfamiliar animal in a dream may represent a primal fear or memory…”_ **

Thomas reached out, running his fingers down its scaly head. The creature sniffed his hand, then leaned into his touch, nuzzling his wrist. “Aww!” Thomas giggled. “You’re not a primal fear, are you little guy?” He scratched the delighted creature under its chin. 

A loud groan startled him from his thoughts. It was a sound like steel running against rock, echoing from somewhere deep within the cavern. Thomas barely had time to look up before the eel took off into the darkness. “No, come back!” he called after it. “Logan, it’s swimming away!” 

**_“Follow it. It should lead you somewhere important.”_ **

Thomas swam after the eel. The tunnel stretched on ahead of them, branching off in every direction. He wouldn’t have been able to keep up with it at all if it didn’t stop every so often to look between the different paths. He couldn’t quite catch up to it, but he swore he caught it looking at him once or twice. “Where are you going, fella…?” He murmured. The creature paused, staring at him. If Thomas didn’t know better he might have thought it understood him. If it did, it didn’t give him an answer. The eel turned and raced off down a long, narrow tunnel. “Hey, wait!” Thomas tried to back himself against the nearest wall to push off of, but by the time he did the eel was long gone. 

He sighed heavily, blowing a stream of bubbles into his eyes. He growled and waved them out of his face. The thought crossed his mind to head back to the clearing where he’d come in. Only then did he realize he had no idea which way to go. It wasn’t like he could ask Logan the way back, since he was on the outside. Frustrated, he looked around for any landmarks he could use. Despite the inky blackness of the cave, he could make out a little of the area around him. The tunnel had long walls that met in corners with the ground and ceiling. He could have sworn that the ground was mud or rock when he saw it in the sunlight, but now that he looked closely the stones beneath his feet fit together like little square bricks. Something cold brushed against his hand as he leaned down. He gasped and yanked it away, half expecting something to reach out of the darkness and grab him. When nothing did he felt out for it again. It was hard and narrow, like a metal pole. He traced its form with his hands, following it up to stomach-level, across, and down the other side. “Man, there’s a lot of weird stuff in here…” he muttered. 

**_“What did you find?”_ **

“It looks like some kinda furniture…?” he squinted at it, reaching his other hand forward. There was something soft attached to the metal. “I think it’s a bed… but it’s not even my bed. It’s like, a hospital bed.” 

**_“Interesting… have you spent a lot of time in the hospital?”_ **

“No…?” Thomas’s nose wrinkled in disgust. His town didn’t even have a hospital! If it did, he was sure he would’ve been taken there by now. “Agent Klein, are you sure this is my mind?” 

**_“I can’t imagine who else’s mind it would be.”_ **

“I know, I just thought it would be more… me?” He looked around at the cold, slimy stone and waterlogged bed. “Like sunshine and flowers and stuff.” 

**_“It is strange that you feel so disconnected from the contents of your own mind… Perhaps this is a manifestation of something in your subconscious.”_ **

“I don’t know what part of my subconscious would be full of eels and hospital beds.” Thomas muttered, maneuvering himself around the stray piece of furniture. Another unearthly groan rattled his senses, and Thomas covered his ears to block it out. It was closer now, hoarse and loud, before tapering into strangled silence. He stood perfectly still, listening into the cave for any other sounds. Now that he could hear it properly, it sounded almost… alive? 

**_“Is something wrong? You covered your ears.”_ **

Thomas glanced around. “It’s that noise again.” he whispered.

**_“Is it plant life? Or another animal?”_ **

“I don’t know, it’s like… something in pain.” He squinted into the shadows. Somewhere at the far end of the tunnel, a faint golden light flickered dark. He swam towards it. Something down there needed his help. He wasn’t sure what or how he knew, but he felt it calling out to him. He couldn’t see the source of the light, but as he grew closer its glow reached the cavern walls, close enough for him to touch. 

No sooner had the light reached his hand than a hideous wailing pain staked through the core of his being. It was as if the weight of the world had become so great that it crushed the air from his lungs. His fingers dug at his chest, desperately trying to relieve the pressure. Tears unbidden burned his eyes. He blinked hard, scrambling to collect his thoughts and his feelings, but in that moment he could barely bring himself to think at all. 

He gripped the wall with his free hand, but it slipped away beneath his fingers as some unseen force pulled him down. He rubbed his bleary eyes and looked down. The stone beneath his feet had crumbled away to reveal a swirling vortex of water that definitely hadn’t been there the last time he looked. Stray bits of furniture were sucked in, crumpling instantly under the weight of the water.

“Uh, A-Agent Klein?” he choked out, “Is it normal to get sucked into your own mind?” 

**_“Hmm… well, some psychologists believe that conceptualizing one’s own mind as inescapable correlated with feelings of powerlessness or an inability to avoid one’s situation--”_ **

“No, I mean like a literal whirlpool appeared and it’s sucking me in!” 

**_“Oh. That… sounds dangerous… hold on, I’ll pull you out.”_ **

“Please hurry.” Thomas grabbed at the wall, but the whirlpool tore its rugged surface from his fingers. So much for “nothing here can hurt you!” He managed to pull himself to an intact piece of floor, wrapping his body around it. The stone tiles crumbled beneath him. “Agent Klein?!” he squeaked. 

**_“I’ve almost got it--!”_ **

Thomas squeezed his eyes shut. He dug his fingers into the ground, holding in a breath as the stone beneath him broke away. 

* * *

Thomas gasped, sitting bolt upright. He felt his body up and down to make sure it was all still there. Legs, stomach, arms, head… his hands were still trembling. Cold tears dried on his cheeks. His eyes flicked from one thing to the next, taking in the room around him. Chair, desk, plant, floor, walls, ceiling, Agent Klein… 

“Thomas?!” Logan knelt in front of him, staring him in the eye. “Look at me, follow my breathing.” Thomas blinked a few times. He tried to follow Logan’s measured breathing. With every gulp of air his lungs felt a little looser, and his mind a little steadier. His shoulders relaxed. The aching misery in his chest had faded, but a fresh soreness had settled in his head. “Are you alright?” 

“I think so…” he mumbled, rubbing his temples with the heels of his hands. “It was just… I lost track of the eel, and then I… I felt really sad out of nowhere, and scared. I couldn’t move or breathe or do anything, I-I don’t--” 

“You don’t have to tell me the specifics.” Logan cut him off. “This is my fault. If I had realized that creature would be a trigger for you, I wouldn’t have had you follow it…” He shook his head and stood up. He grabbed for his clipboard, scratching out some frantic note in the margins of the paper. 

“Er, it’s okay. Logan.” Thomas blinked a few times. “I don’t really know what that means, but I don’t think it was your fault.” Logan frowned at him. His eyes were dark and deadly serious. Thomas quietly hoped that he wasn’t in trouble.

“Even so, as long as you’re in my lab you’re my responsibility. I can’t ask you to relive a traumatic memory for the sake of my research.” said Logan. 

“But I didn’t relive anything!” Thomas threw up his hands. “I don’t know what happened. All of a sudden I just felt really bad, and sad, a-and I don’t know why!” He pulled his fingers through his hair, wracking his brain for any memories that could have brought on those feelings. That deep, soul-shattering anguish, as if he’d just lost the last thing he could ever care about and had no way of getting it back. Even now the memory of it crept down his spine and through his bones, pulling him down… those feelings were completely alien to him. But if they were in his mind they had to be his. Who else’s would they be? 

“So you don’t identify with these feelings at all…” Logan muttered, stroking his chin. He moved to the control panel and examined the various dials and settings. “Perhaps we’ve run into some psychic interference? Janus has expressed a similar sentiment, but I assumed it was just a side effect of his weak mental defenses…” 

“Maybe I should just try again?” Thomas suggested. 

“Not until we know what we’re dealing with.” said Logan, “It could be interference, or suppressed trauma, or deep psychological damage, or any number of other things. Sending an untrained psychic such as yourself into an unstable mind would be ill-advised.” Thomas scowled at him. He wasn’t unstable! 

“There’s got to be something I can do…” Thomas muttered, arms folded across his chest. His gaze wandered around the lab. The wall closest to Logan’s desk was a mosaic of medical diagrams old and new, stretching up nearly to the ceiling. 

“Agent Klein, you’re like, an expert on psychic communication, right? Since you’re always using your telepathy to talk to us.” Thomas sat up a little. “Maybe if you taught me how to do that, I could go back in and ask whatever is in there what it--” 

“Absolutely not.” Logan cut him off. “Just because Agent Oboros elected to go against protocol doesn’t mean all of us will be so easily swayed. May I remind you that allowing you to engage in  _ any _ psychic training at this time would be illegal.” He stared down at Thomas. The only thing stopping his dark eyes from burning a hole straight through him were his thin, steel-rimmed glasses. Thomas gulped, his lips pressed shut. He was hesitant to argue with him for fear that Logan might lift his glasses and blow up his head or something, but Logan wouldn’t do that, would he? He was too straight-laced for such barbaric methods. Besides, Thomas was sitting right next to his carefully organized desk. Logan didn’t seem like the type of person who’d want to waste time picking charred brains out of his important-looking paperwork. 

“Well…  _ technically _ , it’s no more illegal than conducting unauthorized psychic experimentation on a child, right?” Thomas prodded. “And we’re already doing that, so really a little psychic training isn’t so much to ask…” For a long moment Logan just stared at him, uncertain. His brow fell disapprovingly.

“Ah, I see. You’re using my own rhetoric against me.” He glared down at him. Thomas had feared he would be angry with him for pressing the matter, but more than anything he just looked annoyed. Logan thought for a moment. He took up his clipboard again, scanning each page of notes and shooting Thomas the occasional glance as he read. “It would expedite the data-gathering process…” he hummed, looking up at Thomas- who stared right back, eyes wide and hopeful. Logan raised an eyebrow at him. “I suppose given our narrow window of time together, I don’t have many options here. Very well. I’ll teach you how to use your telekinesis.” 

“YES!!” A big, beamy smile lit up Thomas’s face. He leapt to his feet, startling Logan badly enough to jostle the glasses from his face. 

“But only as much as you need to sort this out.” he added, pushing them back up his nose.

“Yeah yeah, of course.” Thomas waved him off. Even the basics were better than nothing! Logan rolled his eyes. He set down his clipboard and took the psycho-portal from his desk. “I can’t believe I’m getting a private lesson from one of the coolest Psychonauts in the business!” Thomas squealed, bouncing in his seat. 

“Only the basics.” Logan corrected him. “This is  _ not _ a training session. You will learn, practice, and leave so we can get back to research. Do  _ not _ make me regret this.” He added pointedly. Thomas bounced to a stop. 

“R-right, sorry.” Thomas stammered. He scooted back in his chair, sitting at attention. Logan leaned an arm against the desk and placed the portal on his forehead. Thomas watched the tiny door glide open. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “Don’t worry Agent Klein. I’m going to make you proud!” he whispered. Logan cracked an eye open to look at him, unimpressed. 

“For your own sake, I certainly hope you do.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TLDR:
> 
> > Thomas follows Logan to his secret underground lab to aide in his research  
> > Logan's secret lab is located beneath a psychic isolation chamber. When Thomas enters it his powers shut down and he freaks out.  
> > Logan snaps Thomas out of it and talks to him about his herbaphonic powers.  
> > Thomas uses the Brain Tumbler to enter his own mind. It appears to him as an underwater grotto.  
> > He sees a yellow eel that leads him through the underwater caves.  
> > He follows a strange light that triggers powerful feelings of anguish and despair  
> > Thomas is almost pulled into a whirlpool but is saved by Logan  
> > Thomas explains to Logan that he doesn't know where those feelings came from  
> > Logan agrees to give Thomas telepathic training to help him better understand these strange feelings


End file.
